Skip to main content

Full text of "Time Designs"

See other formats 


POSTMASTER: 
PLEASE EXPEDITE DELIVERY 
OATED MATERIAL 


ADORESS CORRECTION REQUESTED 


BULK RATE 
U.S. POSTAGE 
PAID 


COLTON, OF 97017 
PERMIT 651 


The SINCLAIR Computer Technology Magazinze 


788 


VOL.4 NO.6 


SERTZOEM 


TIME 


os | | | | 


MAGAZINE 


A Christmas Wish for 


[] SPECTERM-464(TS—4.1) 


Suites Terminal Software for T/S2068 
in JLO, AFRCO. Larken disk or tape. 
Brie $25.00 + $2.50 S&H 


ALSO 


0) Z-SI/0 Bare Boards 


RS-232c Serial Interface for 1/S2068 
With card 
Only $24.50 + $2.50 S&H 


OR BOTH FOR ONLY 
$50.00 inc. S&H 


( Oursime 48 conrrowous stares, $6.5) StH ) 
FEEL ELFLEEFELEFFEETE 


LAREEN Disk Hardware: 
[ ] LARKEN Disk System for T/szose 


Includes LARKEN Floppy Disk Interface, LKDOS (v.3) 
Cartridge, Operating Manual and LKDOS Utilities’ Dek 
Only $120.00 + $5.00 S&H 


{ ] LKDOS Cartridge for JLO 


Specially configured LKDOS (v.3) Cartridge that 
works with your JLO SAFE Disk hardware, Includes 
Operating Manual and LKDOS Utilities’ Disk, 

Only $65.00 + $3.50 S&H 


[ ] LAREEN Randisk tor t/s2oss 


No RAM chips are included. You can add up 
to 256K to this Nonvolatile Ramdisk. Easy to use 
as a floppy disk with LKDOS. 

Only $60.00 + $3.50 S&H 


This 


[] Tandon TM101—4 Quad 
Disk Drives 


These disk drives are brand new in factory 
sealed cartons. They are double sided, 
double density, 96 tpi (quad), full height 
drives. They are compatible with JLO, 
LKDOS, AERCO and QL disk systems. 


$45.00 + $5.00 S&H 
Buy 2, Get FREE Drive Cable! 
Buy 3, Get 4th for Half Price! 
Buy 4, Get One Disk Drive FREE! 
[ } Cable (2dr)..$12.50+52.50 S&H 


Hayes Conpatible MODENS 


[ ] Avatex 2400 (3/12/2400)... 5179 
For CP/M, IBM and other systems. 


{ 1 Avatex 1200hc (300/1200)...00.5SS 


For T/S2068 (w/ Z-SI/O) and QL. 


{[ ] Avatex TOO<P> (300/1200).....5125 
<P>ocket size for the 288. 


{ 7 Avatex @OO<E> (300/T200)....585 
Great for SPECTERM-64! 


Epson Compatible PRINTERS 
{ ] Seikosha 1200AI (120/25)..5199 
{ ] Seikosha 180A! (100/20)..S169 
{ ] Star NX1000 (144/34)....5229 


All modems add $3.50 for S&H, all printers add 
$10.00 for S&H (Canada double S&H on all items), 


is brought to you by: 


Christmas Wish List 
Ed Grey Enterprises 


P.O. Box #2186, Inglewood, CA 30305 


Info >> 213-759-7406 << Order 
Call The Grey Matter BBS & RCP/M (213-971-6260) 


oesigns 


MAGAZINE 


SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 88 


The SINCLAIR 
Computer Technology 


TO FOVEATISERS: Urite or 


Cate on the 


Hey, that's my kid on the front cover! 

If you've been a subscriber to TIME DESIGNS for 
awhile. you may have iced that I never really 
mention a whole lot abo’ wy family or personal 
matters. I have always felt that our customers pay 
for computer information, and it's computer info that 
you'll get. TS HORIZONS and CIM were two magazines 
(now defunct) that I enioyed. and remember reading 
frequently about family members in their editorial 
pages. 

So what the heck. Just this once. Yep. that's my 
two year-old son, Timothy Dean (or “T.D." for short) 
As Iam writing this column, my wife and I are 
expecting our second child. It will be any day now, 
and T.D. will have a little brother or sister 

And what is that curious vehicle that T.D. is 
viding on? Hard core Sinclair fanatics will recognize 
it’ at once. It's a Sinclair "C5" personal electric 
vehicle. I had the opportunity to purchase a used one 
here recently, and went for it. Now my son (who can't 
really drive it yet) can brag to hie friends that 
he's the only one on the block with a C5. 


Continued Next Page. 


NOTICE Contributors to TIME DESIGNS are independent of the TIME 
DESIGNS MAGAZINE CO, anc opinions expressed In tha contents of thes 
sar ent statt or its adver: 
will not be neld abie for any damage or 


constructing an elec: 
able Individuals 


The C5 is the newest addition to my Sinclair 
“mugeum", which also includes a ZX80 computer, the 
pocket TV, the FM digital watch, and a whole bunch of 
Timex goodies, like the original Timex 2068 disk 
drive system (with Timex labels), and a genuine Timex 
joystick for the 2068. 1 keep locking for other 
goodies, and once in awhile (especially at the Timex 
computer shows), 1 run into another fellow fanatic 
who algo hag a collection. Such items as the original 
Sinclair programmable calculator, the Sinclair “black 
watch". and a 2050 modem with actual Timex logo 
decals. 

But the C5 is certainly the centerpiece of my 
collection, and perhaps the strangest. It was a Clive 
Sinclair failure, I remember hearing ebout the re- 
Search being conducted on electric venicies several 
years ago. But I never imagined that the C5 would be 
the result of this research. A sort-of snowmobile on 
wheels. 

I have taken my C5 completely apart, partly out. 
of curiosity, partly to lubricate critical moving 
perte, and just general restoration. In doing so. I 
found the elusive Sinciair custom Integrated Circuit 
(chip) that monitors moter and battery status. It's a 
ULA, and I swear, it looks suspiciously Like the one 
that resides in the 2X81! 

The C5 went on sale for just a short time here 
in the U.S. through mail order, but I bet that only a 
few hundred were sold. The big problem was that the 
vehicle has a one-piece molded plastic body nearly 
six feet in length. Too big for UPS and Federal 
Express. I had to have it trucked from the east coast 
which added over $100 to the price. Someone in 
engineering was not thinking. If only it could be 
folded up or dieassembled into a smaller package. 

And to add insult te injury. Sinclair had con- 
tracted HOOVER to manufacture the vehicle. Does that 
name sound familiar? It should, as just about every 
department store sells their line of vacuum cleaners! 
Tn fact, Hoover was also responsible for warranty 
service and parts. I called over to England to try 
and locate some parts my C5 was missing, and found 
that Hoover still stocks some of the items 


viet he News 
oy is Out! 


AND UE’RE SPREADING IT! 


RMG is adding so many NEW and 
EXCITING ITEMS to our line that 
our storerooms are BULGING! We 

have added more that 25 NEW PAGES 
and changed over 20 others in our 
BIG 70+ page catalog. We want to 
make sure that you do not miss out 
on anuthing we may be able to help 
you with in your computing. 
1 you will send us $3.00 you will 
feceive our catalog with a $3 off 
coupon for your first order. AND, 
send along 12 business size SASEs 
and you will receive 12 monthly 
updates and special mailings. $5 
discount coupon in first walling 


RMG ENTERPRISES 
1419 1/2 7TH STREET 
OREGON CITY, OREGON 97045 
503/655-7484 * NOON-10 TUE-SAT 


But after all of the criticism is raised about 
the C5, there is one aspect that is usually over- 
looked about the machine. [t is dern fun to drive! 
It's a tad bit slow, but one trip around the block 
and your hooked, Everyone on the road will stare. 
There is simply nothing else like it around 

While it would be nice to close thie little 
chapter of Sinclair history, and write the CS off as 
a curious “boondoggle” that had some possibilities. 
But, lo and behold, I was told on good authority that 
Clive is still working on electric vehicles. Guess 
T'll have to make some more room in the "museum". 


ABOUT THE COVER (part two) 


Turning our attention back to the front cover of 
this issue...did you notice anything different?? 

A big "thank you" to Paul Bingham for designing 
our new TIME DESIGNS logo. I think it's clever and 
attractive, and I hope that you all like it too. This 
logo is the sixth revision to our very first logo 
which appeared on Volume One Number One. I had 
planned to unveil this new lego for the Nov/Dec 
issue, but I liked it so much, that I couldn't wait 
to showcase it 

Wo have the ever talented and artistic Paul 
Bingham working on gome other projects for us. But he 
hasn‘t forgotten his CLASSY FRONT END column, which 
will resume next issue. Be sure to check out his 
write up and evaluation of the Z68 portable computer 
and how it sizes up to previous Sinclair computers, 
inside this issue. 

In closing, I might add, that this issue con- 
tains a whole lot of pre-Christmas advertising from a 
variety of Timex Sinclair vendors. I do hope that you 
will patronize them in one way or another, ae they 
support TIME DESIGNS, Why not drop a hint to Santa. 
that a new disk drive system, or software package is 
Just the thing you need to further your "hobby"? 


Tin Roads 


COWS vss 


NOW ANYONE WITH 32K OF DOCK RAM 
CAN RUN CADZ. STILL JUST $20.60 
:Requires Artworx by Novelsofrt: 


DESIGN ON A 4 SCREEN PAGE 
7 PAGES UVITH 256K (AERCO MOD) 
31 PAGE UITH MINIMUM 32K 

33 COMMANDS # FAST NC CODE 


Send $2 for docs, catalog and 
review by Duncan Teague. 


Refunded with any purchase. 


32k INTERNAL RAM MOD. $35.0@ 
PURCHASE CADZ & 32K MOD BOTH 
FOR $50.80 

INSTRUCTIONS AND SCHEMATICS 
FOR INTERNAL 32K MOD FREE 
UITH PURCHASE OF CADZ 


Tasword IT and AERCO with 256k! 
(4-drive onty) holds Five 300 
line documents, (96,000 chr). 
$15.00 


EEEESSEFESEFETEFEETETELEZEREEEEE 


ZUNK CUSTOM ELECTRONICS 
4880 EAST CEDAR LANE 
NORMAN, OKLAHOMA 73071 
(465) -366 8595 


When we ran 4 questionnaire/survey in several 
issues of TIME DESIGNS, we had over 280 responses, 
which is approximately eleven percent of our current 
circulation. The first part of the survey dealt with 
information about our subscribers (age, occupation. 
hobbys, etc.), and questions about equipment owned. 
You can read the results of this in the July/August 
issue. In this issue the survey concludes with reader 
input on hardware, software, and TIME DESIGNS itself. 
We sincerely hope that the data presented here will 
provide developers of software and hardware with a 
better understanding of our TS user community. 


Most popular computer peripherals owned by TS users: 


« Westridge/Timex TS-2050 modem 

modems (various brands} 

Aerco Centronics printer interface (2068) 
joysticks (various brands) 

Zebra Talker (2068 and 1000 versions) 


Baune 


Software package that is used most frequently: 


. MSCRIPT (2068 word processor) 

. TASWORD Ii (2068 word processor} 
+ QUILL (QL word processor) 
PRO/FILE 2066 

ZX PRO/FILE (TS1000) 


Chon 


Other software that is used (less frequently): 


pelf-written “home brew" programs 
miscellaneous games 

PRO/FILE 2068 

- MSCRIPT (2068 word processor) 

- TIMACHINE (2068 BASIC Compiler) 


Baenrn 


Hardware (or computer) purchaees this coming year: 


2068 ditk drive system 
- dot matrix printer 
Larkon Ramdisk (TS2068) 
modem 

268 Portable Computer 


waune 


Software purchase this coming year: 


“s MSCRIPT Version 6 
NI PROFESSIONAL (2068) 
any good 2068 spreadsheet 
miscellaneous 2068/Spectrum games 
QL programning utilities 


obuNne 


What Hardware would you 1ike to see developed? 


2068 bankswitching (BEU) like Timex promised 
additional external/internal RAM for 2068 

. external 1/0 board for controlling devices 
larger RAM for the TS1000 

2068 optical ecanner 

IBM/MS-DOS emulator for the QL 

better voice processors for Timex computers 
cheaper disk interface board for the 2068 
IBM/MS-DOS emulator for the 2068 

PC~atyle keyboard/interface for the 2068 


Swovausunr 


What Software would you like to see developed? 


better 2068 business programs 

+ high-resolution word processor (TS1000) 

- educational software for the 2068 (all ages) 
spelling checker for the 2068 

more arcade and adventure games for the 2068 
simpler database for the QL 


aeaeNe 


stock market/investment software (2068) 
more plug-in cartridga goftware for the 2068 
music programs utilizing sound chip(2068) 
2068 astronomy software 


Comments about TS vendors/dealers: 


“generally good to excellent service” 
@ need your support...don't give up" 
‘not enough of them" 

more product documentation 
‘delivery is sometimes slow" 


L 
2. 
3. 
4. leas tech talk" 
5 


Most favorite section in TIME DESIGNS: 


Sinclair News 

anything on the 2068 

program listings 

TS Communique (Joe Wi! liemson} 
advertigements 

OL section 

hardware projects 

product reviews 


@VeKusene 


Least favorite section in TIME DESIGNS: 


don't have one 

QL section (because I only have a 2068) 
2068 section (because 1 only have a QL) 
1000 section 

games 

non-Sinclair information 

long complex programs 


Nowaone 


One particular favorite article or program lieting: 


1. “Classy Front End” series by Paul Bingham 
started MARCH/APRIL ‘67 

2. “Z80 Machine Code” series by Syd tyncoop 
started MARCH/APRIL '86 

3. "MAX 1000" by Tim Stoddard 
SEPT/OCT ‘87 

4. "288 Portable Computer" review by Tim Woods 


NOV/DEC *87 

5. “Mystery of the Missing 253" by Wes Brzowoski 
started JULY/AUGUST ‘86 

6. "87 Tax Calculator” by Herb Bowers Sr. 
JAN/FEB "88 

7, “QL Mandelbrot" geries by Michael Carver 


started NOV/DEC ‘87 


Comments to the Editor of TIME DESIGNS: 


“Keep up the good work" 
“please don't quit ” 

‘only feature TS information in TDM" 
"thanks for publishing the magazine” 
“more QL articles please” 


1 
2 
3, 
4. 
s 


An article/program you would like to see in TOM: 


Machine Code programming tips (2068 and 1000) 
QL Machine Code programming 

Larken disk drive system tips (2068) 

how to use a spreadsheet program 

BASIC programming "tricks" 


weune 


Suggestions for a "theme issue” topic: 


1, Dot Matrix Printers 

2. Robotics/Controlling Things 
3. Games 

4. Music 

5. 


Word Processing 


eee 


DIRT CHEAP PRINTER 


Dear Tim, 


This is a note to inform your readers that it is 
now feasible to run the IBM PCjr thermal printer on 
the T52068 computer. I ama late comer to the Timex 
Sinclair acene and thue did not get in on the initial 
movement to full gize printers ouch ag the Gorilla 
Banana. Star 10. and others, But now there are 
hundreds of these PCir thermal printers on the market 

comments, questions, for about $39 to $45 
gripes, guest editorials, Granted printers keep improving and getting more 


+1 computer artwork, short pro= this hea to be ons choice to conaigers ee 
bene " a 
( gram listings, and helpful hints Tho PCir printer I purchased has @ serial input 
\} (no candy wrappers or photos of port and is interfaced to my TS2068 through Ed Grey's 
! of your mother-in-law please). 2/S-I1Q_ serial board (available from ED GREY EN- 
q We will print as meny as spece TERPRISES) I am using print driver software written 
éllows, The Editor reserves the by Larry Kenny (LARKEN JELECTRONICS) for hie LKDOS 
Piont to accept or reject con- Vendor (see address “at the end of this letterl, a 
tributions, and to make insipid conversion plug to go from the IBM printer to the 
comments in the space between RS232 serial board on my computer. 
columns, It is algo possible to run the printer using a 


modified version of John Bell's “Serial Port 
Driver" program you published in the JAN/FEB ‘88 
issue of TDM. John McMichael! (1710 Palmer Dr., 


2068 PUZZLE SOLUTION serene: Chora) Didake® nee! Pieiiedvane? such Beetle 


use of special paper, it's a non-permanent record, 
etc. But I think it is a good deal for the limited 


George Mockridge, of Daly City, California. sent hobbyist. I solve the paper problem by scrounging the 
in ths  TS2008 program he wrote to solve the PUZZLE end retls of FAX paper, from 4 large corporate 
OF THE MONTH (July/August ‘88) by the late Cedric R. fecsimile operation that buys 600 foot rolls, and 
Bastieans. it can be compiled with TIMACHINE, the throws away the roll ends se that the machine will 
BASIC Compiler. not run out of paper while unattended. For per- 

- The Editor manent copies of important documents, Io run them 


through a copying machine. 
1 class myself as a casual user and tind the 
‘ larger printer increases the utility of my “toy” 
: computer « great deal. The real work on this system 
came from John McMichael. Larry Kenay end Ed Grey. I 


e0rge MOCKS 


Oy 


ere f tee Wea e INE just asked each of them for their contribution. The 
PENT di ede Rote print driver software uses the LPRINT and LLIST 
OREN 2 commands, but doesn't use the COPY command. 
LET a=-2 PRINT "Vork 
Problem, PRINT John Austin 
isl TA ae McKinney, Texas 
a4 
ee 
Ba 


NEXT U: NEXT k: NEX 


m) THEN LET 
Lia cCledy aime 


THEN PRINT “2 BOYS_A 
“yg: PRINT “3 GIRLS 
7m 


Mia Pe The full-size thermal printer discussed and 

pictured above can be purchased from B.G, MICRO. P.O 

Fox 280298, Dallas. TX 75228, phone (214) 271-5546. 

for $29.95 + $4.00 shipping (U.S.). The printer was 
pe roeys.8 manufactured by CANON for the IBM PCjr. An optional 
PRINT “a PC AT/XT type connector is available for $3.00. Paper 
is available from Radio Shack and other sources. The 
printer may be availeble from other dealers who deel 
in surplus hacker supplys. 


tatdistyed) 
? 


IF (INT (nv2)s@-n) 
- The Editor 


a ee ee en 


2068 HELPS ARMY 


Dear Tim and Staff 


I think Paul Bingham and Stan Lemke, along with 
all the others, deserve a big thank-you for the pro- 
grams they have donated to your magazine. Has anyone 
thought of consolidating them on a disk/tapo and 
offering them to others through the magazine? The 
revenue could be used to offset production costs. 
‘That way we all win. 

The following is a graphic that I use for a 
coversheet on the operator's manual exam my pilot's 
have to take. Although not drawn with a commercial 
graphics program (simple PLOT/DRAW commands were 
used), I did use TECH DRAW JR (Zebra Systems) for the 
shading. 


John Bailey 
Chief Warrant Officer 
United States Army 
APO. San Francisco 


UH-1H Helicopter (US Remy) 


brawn by: John Bailey 


Nice pic John! About your suggestion: currently 
we are understaffed to offer ali of the Iistings in 
each issue on a tape or disk. While it would be nice. 
just think about ail of the different formats that 
would have to be offered (TS1000 tapes. QL micredrive 
cartridges and disks, 192068 tapes and disks in tour 
different formats. not to mention double-sided and 
qusd-density disk systems), However, most of our con- 
(ributors, ineluding Paul Bingham, Sten Lemke. 
Michael Carver, William Andrews, snd others, will 
offer most of their programs published in TDM on a 
tape for nominal charge, Even if it isn’t stated in 
the article or program, it would be worth your while 
to contact the author either directly or through TDM 
to seo if thig service is available, 

~ The Editor 


QL MACHINE CODE 


Dear Tim, 


IT have a question that you may be able to help 
me with. I want to write some machine code functions 
and link them into the name table. I own the “QL 
Technical Guide" and the book, "Machine Code Pro- 
gramming On The Sinclair QL". I understand how to 
actually link functions and procedures, but I don’t 
see how to transfer the answer back to SuperBaASIc. 
Algo, how do I get the parameters passed to my code. 
Would you be able to explain this or refer me to aome 
source that could? I've read section 9.0, 
“Interfacing to SuperBASIC" in the Technical Guide. 
but I'm still s little unclear about it all. A simple 
example would be most helpful. Such ag, a function 
that would take two parameters and add them. 


I would really like to see more technical 
articles for the QL in TDM. Similar to what I've 
asked. The QL is a powerful machine, but the manuals 
are lacking in explaining it's full uses. I'm 
presently a graduate student and don't have the time 
to go through deciphering exactly what was meant in 
the manuals. Any additional help would be greatly 
appreciated. Thank you for your time and advise. 


David McCall 
Rochester, New York 


I asked our resident QL Machine Code programmer, 
Michael Carver for some references on how to pass 
parameters to SuperBASIC, and then to code. He has 
recommended the books "The Sinclair Q00S Companion” 
(published by Sunshine), pages 121-126: and “Advanced 
QL Machine Code" (published by Duckworth), pages 82- 
100. These books may still be available from a QL 
dealer. 

Your request for technical articles has been 
honored. Starting in this issue, Michael Carver will 
begin a new series, with the first article detailing 
how to extend SuperBASIC by installing semi-permanent 
PRO- cedures and FuNctions. A follow-up article will 
discuss creating and running Jobs on the QL. 

- The Editor 


FOR THE YOUNGER SET 


Here is a very simple BASIC TS2068 program which 
will teach your kids their alphabet (both CAPS and 
mall) and numbers, as woll ag the QWERTY keyboard. 

Two of my grandsons learned this way, and now my 
20 month old grandaughter is “pecking away". 

Change the name of the bus line to their own (in 
Line 300) and watch tnem grow. 


Earl L. Kielgass 
Tempe, Arizona 


23 AND ENTER 
ALL LETTERS 0 
CAPITAL CETTE 


Rs. FOR NUMBERS. + 
RFETER CHRS SH 

OULD 7) FOR SMALL 

LETTERS 1 FOR CAPS, A 
NU 


2 
J 
FS nik 

Seo PRINT [—[— 
o* INK O 

SSS PRINT 13, ——— 
om: INK O 

$40 IF N=34 THEN GO SUB 1010 
380 

360 

35S 

370 

327 PRINT IN 
Ko: 

378 PAUSE 20 

379 PRINT AT 15,17 

INK 2 

380 IF INKEvg="" THEN GO To S40 
oo? ESOL THEN GO Ta 42 
gon 

3a 

430 2 

1020 PRINT AT 9 

1050 RETURN 


A SINCLAIR IBM "CLONE''? 


Late one morning in the TOM office, I received 
@ resh of phone calls. one right after the other, and 
@ll concerning the sam thing. An anxious voice on 
the other end of the line would ask, “have you seen 
the new Sinclair computer advertised in POPULAR 
SCIENCE magazine?" Then sounding as if a friend had 
betrayed them, they would add, “it's an JBM clone". 

I admitted that I hadn't heard about it or seen 
one (but thought to myself it sounded a bit fishy), 
By about the third or fourth call from one of our 
customers, I had my coat in hand, end was headed down 
to the drug store to secure a copy of the magazine. 

And sure enough, towards the back of the pub- 
lication was a full page adwith a black and white 
photograph (see example) showing a complete computer 
system including @ monitor. a printer and a mouse. 
The logo depicted on the equipment was unmistakable. 
The familiar black and white Sincleir trademark. 

But wait. There was also something tami liar 
about thet computer. It looked suspiciously like an 
AMSTRAD PC- 1640. 

Tt wasn't until a month later, that I heard 
the complete details behind this mystery computer. It 
wag at the Midwest Sinclair Conference in Cleveland, 
Ohio, during a lecture by Nigel Searle (a business 
associate and personal friend of Clive Sinclair). 

Nigel told the audience that when the 288 
portable computer came to the U.S., the national 
distributor took on the business name of “SINCLAIR 
SYSTEIS INC."...until, that is, lawyers from AMSTRAD 
showed up. They said, “no way...we hold the exclusive 
world-wide rights to the SINCLAIR nane". 

Indeed. back in 1986, Clive gold his computer 
company to save his taltering research organization. 
But through som hazy clarification, Clive thought 
that the deal signed with AMSTRAD only included the 
exclusive use of the Sinclair name in Europe. But 
AMSTRAD. and it’s shrewd chairman, Alen Sugar, had 
other ideas. 

ro avid @ nasty legal battle, the 288 
distributor instead elected to use the siaple 
initials, "SSI". But it was reported, that Alan Sugar 
end AMSTRAD still harboured ill feelings toward Clive, 
thinking that he somehow tried to cheat them. 

it was at the Chicago Consumer Electronics Show, 
that this clash came toa head. By chance, AMSTRAD 
and SSI had adjoining booths. Both Nigel Searle and 
Clive Sinclair were there to promote the Z8a. 

When they looked over at the AMSTRAD booth, they 
couldn't believe their eyes. Right out in front was 
one of AMSTRAD'# Korean-made PC clones. And where the 
logo should have been, somebody had taken the old 
Sinclair logo (literally cut out of a magazine or 
brochure), and had scotch-taped it over the AMSTRAD 
logo! 

e dt was very obvious that Alan Suger was trying 
to “punish” Clive Sinclair. It ig well known that 
Clive has never had any desire to produce an MS-DOS 
machine. Just look at how non-conforming the Sinclair 
computers have been, right down to the black plastic 
cases (no beige here). 

Originally, the gale of his computer company and 
certainly the use of his name by a competitor, 
bothered Sir Clive a bit. But now, looking at these 
“disguised” computers, both Nigel and Clive chuckled 
out loud, 

So thus the story of the Sinclair “clone”. How- 
ever, we did hear from a reliable source, that 
AMSTRAD will market this “new" computer, banking on 
increased sales. even though both the similar AMSTRAD 
mode! and the re-packaged "Sinclair" model will botA 
be sold simultaneously here in the U.S. Supposedly 
the AMSTRAD PC stock hasn't moved to Alan Sugar's 
liking. With the Sinclair version, he ig counting on 
name familiarity. 

Will the old 751000 and Z¥-81 owners (at one 
time. nearly a million strong) be fooled by thie 
"wolf in sheep's clothing"? 


- Tim Woods 


SUMMER T/S SHOWS 


Small crowds, large exhibitor displays. and ex- 
cellent guest epeakers, marked the opening of 
summer Timex Sinclair computer shows in two different 
geographical locations. 

The Third Annual Northwest/International Timex 
Sinclair Mini-Fair "kicked off" on August 6 and 7, at 
the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Portland. Oregon. The 
event. produced by Rod Gowen, was organized and 
structured very professionally, and was compared in 
some aspects to the Indianapolis Timex show held last 
year. 

Ed Grey (Ed Grey Enterprises) demonstrated 
modems, serial cards, and digitized video. Sharp's 
Inc, had a full spread of QL and 268 items. RMG En- 
terprises featured printers, monitors, and disk drive 
syotems stacked shoulder high. But Zebra Systems had 
the largest display, with ten tables full of TS1000 
and TS2068 merchandiae. 

Nigel Searle, representing SSI and promoting the 
new Z88 portable computer, shared a booth with George 
Whitham of A+ Computer Response. Jack Dohany had a 
customized work station that allowed him to produce 
2068 software for a variety of systems and disk drive 
formats. Time Designs and Foote Software also had 
some displays. 

Not to be out-done, the users groups provided 
some interesting things to look at. At the CCAT/S 
booth, Ed Fry demonstrated his four-port expansion 
decoder for the TS1000 (see his article on the de- 
coder in this issue of TDM). Another TS1000 operated 
@ Radio Shack robot arm at the SEATUG booth. VISTA 
demonstrated a Larken disk drive system and provided 
information on a public domain software exchang 
Both the Vancouver and Las Vegas groups provided 
newsletters and information about their groups 
activities. 

Guest speakers in the seminar room included Jack 
Dohany, Mike de Sosa, Wilf Rigter, Ed Grey, Harvey 
Taylor, Michael Carver, Nigel Searle, Vince Lyon, and 
Dick Wegner. 

Late Saturday night. a special “Round Table" 
session was held (open to the public), with many of 
the guest speakers presiding, fielded questions from 
the audience. Several computer topics were discussed. 
including “shareware, copy protection, software 
Piracy, computer viruges, the 268 portable computer, 


WP: Tinex/Sinclair usare who participeted in a special mosting 
on Saturday night in Cleveland, Ohio. One of the topics dis- 
cussed ves the feasibility of S.N.U.G. (photo courtesy of Tea 
Sion} HIQOLE: Jack Doheny discusses disk drive systema for the 
2068 at the Portland show. (photo courtesy of Tom Mell} BOTTOM: 
tka de Sosa lectures on his favorite subject, the Sinclair QL, 
at the Portland show. (photo courtesy of Tow Mol). 


@ telecommunicationa network proposal, and 8.N.U.G. 
(Sinclair _Northemerica Usera Group...en idea 
originally initiated by some individuale at the 
computer feat in Fiorida). 

Next, it was off to the 1988 Midweat Timex 
Sinclair Conference, which was held on August 27 and 
28. at the Beck Center for the Arts, in Lakewood, 
Ohio (a suburb of Cleveland). The Greater Cleveland 


Niget 

Taylor, James Dupuy, Ken Wildman, 

Gary Ganger, Basil Wentworth, David 
Hosher, Ron Lutz, Bill Bell, and Ken Wildman. 

The seminar presented by Nigel Searle drew the 
most attention, The topic was “Sinclair History-2%80 
to Zee" and included o visual presentation that 
traced the evolution of the 2X60 and ZX81 computers. 
Nigel hae been a business associate and close friend 
for over 15 years. He related many 
and an ingight inte the development. 
of our favorite hobby. 

On Saturday night. a apecial users meating vae 
held for anyone interested, and the major topic of 
Giscussion was $§.N.U.G. In attendance was Mel 
Nathanson, one of the key individuals who started the 
concept, and is currently pro tem Chairman of 
8.N.U,G, He gave a brief presentation and shared 
some ideas. There were both positive and negative 
comments from the audience during an open discussion 
period, The meeting wrapped-up with a group Photo 
{the result of which can be found in this fesue), and 
@ catered dessert social afterwards. 

The producers of both shows were marginally éis— 
appointed in the numbers in attendance, One in- 
dividual, who asked not to be identified. discussed 
this problem at length. 

"If atl of the Losats had seve rg piel 
have been a success. [f all of the people who wrote 5 
or told me over the phone they were coning, had y THE NEWSROOM continued next page. 


fnew ROOM 


showed, it would have been a success". He then added, 
"I talked to this one 2068 owner who is within 
driving distance, and he was almost shocked when I 
ked him if he was coming to the show. No, he 
replied, but I do want to attend a show sometime. 
What this guy doesn‘t realize, is that if folks don't 
get behind these shows and support them...there won't 
be anymore shows!" 

Another show promoter attributed the low numbers 
to the less-than-desirable show scheduling, and the 
declining number of users interested in Timex 
Sinclair computers. 

Over-all, the single most important component of 
these public gatherings is the exchange of vital in- 
formation. At both the Northwest and Midwest shows, 
the guest speakers were captured on video tape, and 
are available for those who were unable to attend. A 
wide variety of topics is offered. For further 
details on prices and a list of topics, contact the 
following representatives. Northwest Mini-Fair: Rod 
Gowen, 1419 1/2 7th Street. Oregon City, OR 97045. 
Midwest 1T/S Conference: James Dupuy, 6514 Bradley 
Ave. (down), Parma, OH 44129. 


- Tim Woods 


SPECTRUM PRODUCT NEWS 
An Eye On Great Britain 


SS! LA 
rN 


Though many believe that our 
are dead, the best way to prove them wrong, is by 
showing them the amount of Spectrum hardware and 
software coming our of Great Britain and Europe these 
days. For the Timex Sinclair 2068 owner, this may 
mean the addition of a “twister board” for the rear 
port (available from John Mathewson, 1852 Appleford 
St., Gloucester, Ontario, Canada K1J-6T4), and a 
Spectrun ROM (available from Zebra Systems and 
Ruagell Electronics), but it is well worth the money 
to open up your world to thousands of software tities 
end hundreds of hardware add-ons. Here are some of 
the latest additions to this growing list. 

Detel Electronice Ltd. (Fenton Industrial 
Estate, Govan Road. Fenton, Stoke-On-Trent, 
England, phone 0782-744707 ) has introduced the 
ROBOTARM, a robot arm and interface for the Spectrum 
The arm is more versatile than Radio Shack's 
“Armitron", with 5 axis manipulation and the ability 
to pick up objects an email as paper clips and as 
large as a tennis ball. The ROBOTARM includes a 
magnet and scoop. and can operate without a computer 
via two joysticks. The ROBOTARM costs £49.99, and the 
Spectrum interface with control software costs an 
additional £19.99. Datel Electronics accepts VISA 
credit card orders. 

Romantic Robot UK Ltd. (54 Deanscroft Ave., 
London, England NW9 SEN, phone 01-200-8870), is now 
offering the VIDEOFACE, video digitizer for £44.95, 
The VIDEOFACE converts pictures from a video camera 
or recorder into standard hi-res Spectrum screens. 
The VIDEOFACE uses a standard composite video signal 
and tho software (included) ia menu driven. Romantic 
Robot UK Ltd. accepts VISA credit card orders. 

Remember tha ROTRONICS WAFADRIVE? They aro now 
available from Logic Sales Ltd. (19, The Broadway 
Southgate, London Ni4, England. phone 01-882-4942). 
These are the same stringy floppy drives and op- 
erating system that were sold here in the states a 
couple of years ago. They are currently priced to 
sell out at £14.99. Logic Sales also has 16K end 64K 
wafer cartridges at £2.00 and £3.50 respectively, 


\ 


little computers 


8 


JUST RELEASED 


TS1000/TS1500 


A comprehensive Timex/Sinclair Public Domain 


Software Library is maintained 
(Vashon Island, Washington) group and is available to 
the general public. Currently there are six 60-minute 
cassette tapes of programs for the TS1000. Programs 
for the 2068 will be offered shortly. Tapes can be 
obtained for a nominal feo that covers the cost of a 
quality blank tape, postage and handling, etc. For 
complete details, write to: Tim Ward, $142-D Ginkgo 
Dr. S.W., Tacoma, WA 98439; or Tony Willing, PO Box 
199, Vashon, WA 98070. The group is also looking for, 
and will gladly accept program submissions/donations 
to the library. 


by the VISTA 


TS2068 


One of the top stories in our last issue's news 
section. was a hardware device and software to allow 
2068 users to attach an OKIMATE 20 color printer. The 
trick was to purchase the optional Commodore 
(serial) "Plug 'N Print" package. But now, a much 
simpler solution has come to light by John McMichael, 
the same individual who developed the Commodore 
emulation I/F and software. By selecting the IBM 
(parallel) “Plug ‘N Print" package, it will adapt 
directly to an AERCO Centronice/paralle! printer in- 
terface (or Oliger and Foote Print). No other 
hardware is required. Standard Aerco-type printing 
software should work “as is". However, John NcMichael 
has re-written his COLOR COPY (color screen dump 
utility) program for this new interface config- 
uration. COLOR COPY is priced at $8.95 ppd. For 
details, write to John McMichael, 1710 Palmer Dr.. 
Laramie, WY 62070. 


Medea 


There has been a great demand for "serious" 2068 
business software. GRAPHIT-1 might just fit the bill. 
GRAPHIT-1 offers the choice of six different graph 
types (see examples above), up to 18 separate input 
values can be graphed, and the full-size printer 
support section (AERCO I/F compatible) can be user 
customized. A joystick is required, as the menus are 
selected similar to the way a “point ‘n click" mouse 
worke. GRAPHIT-1 is reasonably priced at $5.00 + $1 
S&H, from a brand new company, BOTTLE CAP SOFTWARE, 
1284 Brushwood Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45224. 

An outstanding "excuse" to keep ‘your faithful 
T$2068 working, rather than trading it in for a new 
model, is the software coming from BYTE POWER. If the 
new titles now being released are anything like their 
previous programs, 2068 fans are in for a real 
treat. THE PRINT FACTORY will unieash “PRINT SHOP" 
power and flexibility upon your full-size printer, 
with eight separate programs, and over 159 graphic 


These are the same wafers used with the A&J Micro- 
drive system. Logic Sales accepts VISA credit card 
orders. 

TASCALC is Tasman Software's new 52 column x 157 
row spreadsheet software package. The Spreadsheet 
includes on-screen help and interactive prompts. In 
addition to TASCALC, there are several other new 
programs for the Spectrum+ 129K and Spectrum+ 3 
series of computers. Write to Tasman Software (Spring 
Field Youse, Hyde Terrace, Leeds, LS2 9LN, England) 
for futher details, or phone 0592-43630i, Tasman 
Software accepts VISA credit card orders. 

~ Michael J. Felerski 


designs included. 2+FAST is a “fast load" software 
system, that will SAVE and LOAD your tape data up to 
2.5 times faster. THE VOICE is a speech development 
system that includes a headset microphone. BYTE POWER 
algo operates a "software magazine" on tape, with 
around ten programs per issue. The most recent one 
contained a very impressive program called SPREAD— 


SHEET II (64 columns, joystick controlled). Most all 
of BYTE POWER's programs will operate on the Spectrum 


POWER, 1748 Meadowview Ave., Pickering, Ontario, 
CANADA Liv-368. 


CUSTOM ELECTRONICS (4900 E. Cedar Lane, Norman, OK 
73071). Larry Zunk, owner/operator, has developed a 
software system called CADZ (requires Novelsoft's 
ARTWORK and 32K additional Dock RAM...which is 
available from various sources, including ZUNK). To 
Prove the usefulness of CADZ, Mr. Zunk has used it to 
design an electronic fuel injection system, a monitor 
tor a MAZDA rotary engine in an experimental air- 
plane, and a computer-controlled driveriess steering 
system for an experimental mass-transit vehicle. 
(Note: See the sample screen dump above.) For an 
information packet, 
catalog and documentation, send $1 to address posted 
above. The buck is refunded with any purchese. 


For further details and prices, write to: BYTE 


Several arcade games for the 2068 and Spectrum 
are available from MAGICKSOFT (735 S. Cline Ave. #11, 
Newton, NC 28658). A sample screen from GULF WAR is 
shown above. Write for further information. 


SINCLAIR QL 


Serious QL users will be interested in a new 
catalog that lists many unique and useful software 
packages, all of which were developed by North 
American programmers. The catalog lists business 
and financial titles, disk and programming utilities. 
Get your free copy today, by writing to: EMSOFT, PO 
Box 8763, Boston, MA 02114. 

META MEDIA PRODUCTIONS (726 West ‘17th, 
Vancouver, B.C., CANADA VSZ 1T9) has announced that 
they are now marketing their Q LINK terminal soft— 
ware as "shareware". Q_LINK author, Harvey Taylor, 
reported that he had learned that his program was 
being pirated (illegally copied and distributed) 
around the U.S. Promoting Q_LINK as shareware is the 
companies response to this nagging problem. Those who 
wish to officially register their copy of Q_LINK, can 
send $15, and receive a) copy of the user manual, b) 
telephone support, c) news about future updates, d) 
further support wares such Unarc, Uncrunch, Filters, 
etc., as they become available. Currently, Q LINK 
version 1.556 is available. 


Some pretty fascinating stuff coming out of ZUNK 


including software/hardware 


FIREL PRINT PROFESSIONAL! 
THE DESKTOF FUBLISHER 
by! Lemke Software Uevelopment 
witnieathite Paka, 

* based on the Pixel Print PLUS! Desktop Publisher 
* Bank-Suitching for Perfect Page Layout, 64 col. printing 
* AERCO, LARKEH, OLIGER Disks ($29.95 all versions) 
* IBAZEPSOH/STAR/PROWRITER Compatible Graphics 

* 72 to 98 Dot per inch printer graphics required 


TS5-2068 


* 14 Month Calendar 
# Loads into Pixel Print DIP 
Cuersions 3.1 thru 3.6) 
# Personalize it with the DIP 
* Print 1 or 4 months per page 
* Comes with 88 Calendar ICONS 
* PLUS! ICON Library Manager 
* $19.95 ppd Corder teday) 


SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT 


It was very early on a Sunday morning, and it was 
pouring down large rain drops, quite warm and humid, but 
drenching indeed. Perhaps the weather was fitting | for 
the occesion...similar to the climate of Great Britain. 
the homeland of my distinguished breakfast guest (and 
certainly of the Northwest where I reside) 

This was the second day of the Midwest Sinclair 
Conference in Cleveland, Ohio. The previous day, I had 
sat in on a very interesting seminar on the history and 
development of Sinclair microcomputers. conducted by 
Nigel Searle. Nige? had worn severa] hata in the 
Sinclair hierarchy. inctuding top executive, second in 
command. right under company founder Clive Sinclair 
and thon later, the U.S. Marketing Director of Sinclair 
flesearch in Boston 

I guess that I have always had this preconceived 
notion, that Sir Clive Sinclair was this very proper 
‘gtiff-lipped” English inventor: but Nigei quickiy shot 
down this view during his lecture. Nige! has known 
Clive over sixteen years, both es « business 

ciate and as a close friend. Nigel related several 
srous stories, including Clive's antics at a company 
ristmas party, about an incident ina pub, and his 
dealings with British bankers. year. when the 
inistry of Education denied approval of the Sinclair 
2x61 for use in the primary schools (but instead 
granted approval to Apricot, a competitor), Sinclair 
re-submitted a “brand new" model, the Spectrum. But 
unknown to the Ministry, was that ¢his particular 
computer submitted for review, actually had a 2X81 
mother board installed inside! The “new computer was 
promptly approved. 

During the early years with Sinclair, Nigel found 
himself frequentiy commuting to the United States. At 
first. working with Texas Instruments, to program a 
custom chip that would be used in a Sinclair scientific 
calculator: and then later. to promote new Sinclair 
computers. 

Currently, Nigel resides in the U.S., and ig the 
owner and operator of The Marketing Clinic in Keene 
New Hampshire, 2 public relations and marketing firm. 
He also helps produce a weekly radio show on personal 
computers, heard in the New England area 

Nigel continues to work with Sinclair in an 
outside consultant capacity. and was brought in to hel 
SST (and other affiliates of CAMBRIDGE COMPUTER-Nort: 
America) promote the new 288 portable computer, and 
future computer product releases 

Nigel, without hesitation, generously agreed to do 
an interview for TIME DESIGNS. To reminisce about the 
“early days" of Sinclair computers (including the QL 
which for the most part, was his project), and to offer 
a few clues as to what we can expect from Sir Clive in 
the not so distant future. And so, over breakfast, the 
following exchange occurred 


Tim: First of all, for thome TIME DESIGNS readers who 
weren't fortunate enough to attend your lecture here 
in Cleveland on the “history of Sinclair computers", 
let's go back a bit. What ware your "roots" (like the 
Alex Halley noveli? How did you become a member of 
the Sinclair "legacy"? Basically, how aig it ail 
begin? 


sssinclair insider>> 


BY TIM WOODS 


1o 


Nigels [t actually happened through an organization 
known aa MENSA, which I had become a mamber of, when 
Iwas in college. When 1 was about to graduate 
someone who I knew through MENSA, introduced me to « 
Guy called Tim Idelwatt, who had started hie own 
company in Cambridge, England. And as a reqult of 
that meeting, I was offered and accepted a job with 
Tim's company. Tim was a friend of Clive Sinclair 
ang through Tim, I met Clive who also happened to da 
@ mamber of MENSA. 

I worked for CAMBRIDGE CONSULTANTS, Tim's 
company, for @ couple of yeare then decided to leave 
the company and work on my own. I guess that 1 felt 
they ware paying ae relatively little. All they were 
providing me with was a pencil! and paper, and @ place 
to sit, and then they were charging clients about 
five times as much ac they were paying me. And I'd 
aleo, because of the circumstances under which I had 


gone to work there, I'd been thrown into the position 
where I had to find clients myself. And so Il figured 
I could do (t just am well an my awn, Shortly after I 


left Cambridge Consultants to work on my own, 
Phone call from Clive 


I got a 
Sinclair avking mo if T waa 


interested in working ons celculator. That w. to 
the middle of 1972. Right at that time, SINCLAIR 
RADIONICS was bringing out its first calculator 


called the “Executive”, but Clive already had plane 
to wark on a scientific calculator, and that wae the 
first project 1 worked on. 

For quite a while there, I wasn’t a full tine 
employes. I’d made the big break and decided that 
wanted to work for myself, to work as a consultant. 
Although I had an office at Sinclair, and spent quite 
@ lot of time working on that project, [ didn’t work 
there full time ang I worked on other projects for 
other cliente as wall. It (the calculator? wae 
certainly the major thing that I was working an for @ 
fou years there 


Tims How long had Sinclair Radionics been around 
before you joined on? 

Nigel: Sinclair Radionics had bean around for almost 
ten years, and had been doing mainly audio, etarted 
selling parts initially, amplifiers, kits, and later, 
just before I joines them thay started selling 
Speakera snd stuff like that. 


I really only knew Clive and his company through 


his friendship with this guy Tim Idelwatt, who ran 
Cambridge Consultante, and as someone who was running 
&@ business locally. To tell tha truth, at Cambridge 


Consultants where most of the 
graduates of Cambridge University 
then had advanced degrees, and wa tendad to look down 
our not a little bit at Sinclair Radionics. The 
technical people at Sinclair weren't as well educated 
and a9 well qualified as we were 


employees were 
and a lot of 


I guese if there was any percaption of what 
Sinclair was all about was that it was @ crass 
commercial organization compared to the almost ivory 
tower stuff that we used to do at Cambridge 


Consultants. 


Tim: (chuckling) Gut it wae a jJob...a paying job. 
(more seriously) tt seems like Sir Clive had a talent 
for bringing inte hie company key people with bright 


ideas. Ie this a quality that you neticed? 


Nigel Wall, Clive had naver been to college. That 
wap a conscious choice that he made. I think ha was 
very synpathetic toward the idea that formal 
@ducation doesn't necessarily hava mich to do with 
ability. And so tendad to look for different 
Qualities in pacple other than formal educational 
qualifications, And 0, yeah there were a lot of 
people who wera pretty bright, creative sort of 
pecple. Peopts who may net have been too happy in a 
mare conventional organization. A lot of people like 
that played a big part tn Sinclair's cuccese over the 
next faw years. And interestingly, a lot of them, 
when they eventually left Sinclair, did so to go 
and start thetr own businesses. And I think that's a 
credit to the company. I think Clive always felt that 


"The guy who was given 
the job of designing 

the appearance of the QL 
was given a 2068 with in- 
structions to take a close 
look at it..." 


if somebody left the campany to go and work for some- 
one elee, that use their problem aod that they 
work 
Rim anyway. But if thay left to go and start 

Own company he was extremely Supportive, 
er sorry he may have been to loose then, and he 
frequently used tham if the company they had started 
did any Gort of consultant work. 


probably hadn't ever reaily bean good enaugh to 
for 


Timi Letts advance nistery a little bit with the 2x80 
and ZX81. Aw far as the Sinclatr following over here, 


a lot of people consicar Sinclair GASIC and the 
Single keystroke consand funetian as superior en- 
ginesring featuras, How much influence did Gir Clive 


nave over that 
with that idea? 


design, or did he bring in someones 


Nigals I really don’t know. Wnen I firet eaw the Zx80 
in January of 1960, shortly before it wae launched, 
Clive showad it te ma to axplain to me what his new 
Campany (SINCLAIR RESEARCH LTO.) was going to be 
going. tures wore already igned into the 
2X80. My gui ig that the keyboard stuff 
probably came from Clive. In 1975 I had worked on the 
Gesign of a programmable actentific calculator which 
for reasons of economy and compactness, Clive had 


wanted to put into the same 3, very L 
calculator which had bean desig originally ae a 
four-function calculator, So we had 19 keys to play 
with, go each koy had to Gerve at least two and 
vevally three separate functiona. 

Tim Thad heared that because of the mambrane kay~ 


board, that peuple weren't going to do a lot of 
typing on it. And that was poelbiy one of the design 
considerations for using a command-key arrangamant, 


Nigel: That’s possible. Sut I'd be surprised tf there 
wasn’ connection between that keyboard and the way 
wa crammed a great daal anto keyboards previously. 
And 

the davigner’s, it's probably jer to 
first of all that a ehift key nae baen pr: 
recognize thet keys hava been preswed after that, 
that it t@ a whole command rather than to recognize a 
quence of individual sheracters, The syntax 
chacking--I don’t know where that came from, but in 
retrospect its the sort of thing that would fall out 
1€ you encouraged whoaver was doing the programming 
to look at the way that calcutatora had work. 1 
eean basically, If you enter an illegal character 
sequence into a calculator, whatever that may be-~tro 
Cecimal points following one anather, it will 


in fact, from a programming point of view, with 
recognize 


it 


recognize it imsediately. Its # clever idea, It wae a 
feature that was much appreciated in the machine. My 


guese ia that it wort of juct droppmd out of the 
deeign criteria. 
Tim Hi in the U.S., our major contact with 


Sinclair was through Timex and their mass marketing. 
Timex brought out tha TS1000, and then the 182068 for 
@ short time, which was baced on tha Spectrum design. 
1 had neard that Gir Clive made a comment that Timax 
had "fouled up" his Spectrum, in a well publiahed 
statement. Cid he actually deli that Timex had 
sensed up tha Spectrum design? 


Nigel: Well wa nad high hepes for 

market. By the middle of 1962, Sinclair w 
deriving more of its revenue, more of its 
profit, from tha U.S. than the reat of tho world put 
together. Even though in the States we'd bean selling 
the 2X80 while tha rent of the world had the 2x81 
we’d been smiling tne 2X81 for a few months while t 
reat of the world had the Spectrum. So we had very 
high hopes for the American market, Out they clearly 
depended upon going retatl. We falt that our came was 
unkrawn to the major retaitare in the States. We had 
no wales force. we had no experience in 
managing/motivating @ Gales force in the Statae. And 
5O we decided we needed to find a partner who knew 
that, And Fimex clearly knew anc understood tha 
praduct. They had besn manufacturing the 7X81 for us 
ag 8 sub-contractor, and they had a lot of A 
people calling on avery conceivable type of account 


the American 


Lling watchs and everthing al in som 
I think that we lookad at Timex and said 
le thank God that thay were there 
weren't", because frankly, we would have tomt our 


shirts in ‘83 with whe: 
been in the Stat The m 
any 


ar cur strategy would have 
et was aut of control of 


individual manufacturer, ang it was marketing in 


PRINTER? 
UE CAN HELP! 


RMG can supply many top brands at fow 
prices, Names like: CITIZEN-STAR-ALPS 
PANASONI C-OKIDATA-EPSON-SEIKOSHA 
BROTHER AND HORE! 


##% CHECK THESE OUT! ## 
PANASONIC KX1080) ONLY $175.00 
PANASONIC KXI09ti ONLY $197.95 
STAR NX£000 MULTI-FONT ONLY $180.00 
STAR NX1000 RAINBOW ONLY $237.95 
REMMI SY SY S08 

KO i . 
CITIZEN 1200 ONLY $159.95 
CITIZEN 1800 ONLY $175.00 


Please ad¢ $15 each for sh. & ins, 
We also have MANY used printers in 
stock-write or cail! 


RNG ENTERPRISES 


1419 1/2 7TH STREET 
OREGON CITY, OREGON 97045 


503/655-7484 * NOON-10 TUE-SAT 


OFFER ENDS 12791768 


which everyone was guranteed to loose money no matter 
how intelligently they handled thenselves. So Timex 
took the brunt of that. I think that Timex might well 
leok back at the situation and say to themselves 
“boy, I wonder if Sinclair really knew snough about 
tha bucinese to anticipate what was going to happan 
and lured us into taking the brunt of it". You know, 
if I was in thair ehoes, I might think that. But I 
think that at times, Clive would agree, and I believe 
he made comments to this affect (ragarding the Timex 
182068), and he had a considerable sympathy for Timex 
that they got into a business which looked as though 
it would be very very profitable for both of us, and 
turned out to be otherwise. Having said that, there 
were certainly times when both Clive and I thought, 
and anybody else wha “as involved thought that Timex 
wae not helping itself ¢s much am it might have done. 
I think for example, Timex was right to hire some 
wenior management to run ite computer business. You 
didn’t want the business to be run by a guy who's 
primary concern wae dasigning, making, and selling 
watches, because the computer business would seem to 
him to be a relatively small bueiness initially and 
Perhaps wouldn’t get enough attention. You needed to 
have people in Timex who didn’t hava anything to do 

who's lives depended on the computers 
being succ: But what thay did was to build up an 
entirely Organization, and thay didn’t make 
use of all the expertise they got out in the field of 


selling. The reason was, “well the guy who is a watch 
buyer isn't the computer buyer". I always felt there 
must of been soma way that they could use their 


leverage a8 a major supplier of watches to department 
stores and drug stores aa a way of opening the doors 
and having the right influence in getting the product 
out. And maybe they did to some axtant, because they 
were pretty affective in getting the product out. 
But, yeah I think thay did a lot af things that=-I 
mean they spant a lot of time ecrewing around with 
tha Spectrum and redesigning it, and by the time they 
had done it, I think that they had got a machine 
which wao better than the Spectrum in many respects, 
but it was a lot later. So whether the 2068, when 
they got tt was better than the Spectrum would have 
been, when they could have had the Spectrum, was 
certainly debatable. 

I resember Clive’a reaction to the 782068, was 
that he thought tt waa a pretty neat design. So much 
so, that~--the OL w. at a stage of development where 


wo ware beginning te think about exactly what it 
should lock tke, The guy who was given the job of 
dasigning the appearance of tha GL was given a 2068 
with instructions to take a closa look at it and sea 
what could be learned from it. And I think the @t 
ones something to ite design, to the 2068, That was 
something thst Clive, as I recall, encouraged. 


Tim: There was sone talk about an expanded TS2068 
with ore memory, dank-switching, and some sort of 
higher operating ayatem. There was also a rumor that 
Sinclair sngineers were working on an advanced 


Spectrum with technology which would be shared with 
the Timex organization. Were you aware of any such 
Project? 


Nigel: To the best of my recollection there wasn’t. 
There weren't projects within Sinclair to develop the 
Spectrum further. It was a constant topic of con- 
versation after the Gl design was well uncer way, a 
to whether we should attempt to replace the Spectrum 
with anything. We eventually approached the problem 
by saying "what 1@ the worst thing any competitor 
would do thet would hurt our sales of Spectrum 
computers?” And wo decided that the greatest 
weakness of the Spectrum was the keyboard. And I 
think this must hava been 1984, because I think the 
QL was already lauched, was already in production. So 
what we decided te do vary simply wan to design 3 new 
case for tha Spectrum, That became the Spectrum Plus 


And all we were doing wae designing a naw case #0 
that production would literally switch over as soon 
ae the case became available, and tno © printed 


circuit board and everything else would go into tha 
case. That turned out to be «@ y key move in 
maintaining our market position and maintaining our 
margins, because we were able to charga more for tha 
Spectrum Plus, or at least we were able to go on 


12 


charging what we'd been charging for the Spectrun. 
Otherwi we would probably would have had to lower 
the price. 

And so I remember that decision being nade very 


late in the year; a big rush to get that out before 
the end of the year, We'd been pretty much ia- 
mobilized. Nobody could decide exactly what ta do 
about the Spectrum, althought thera were lote of 
ideas around. But it wae much later, probably in 1985 
before any work really got underway on the 126K 
Spectrua and products like thet. 


Tims At a recent Timex Sinclair user group meeting in 
Naw York, Billy Skyrme, who waa tha former head of 
Resaarch and Development at Timex, now with Paton 
described a computer called the TS3068 which was 
slated for production. Was thie pretty much an “in- 
house" Timex design? 


Nigel: Yeah, I’m pratty sure it would bs. 


Tim: Someone just sugge 
were working on the d 
knawledge, 


id that Sinclair enginsera 
ign with Timex, but to your 
that wasn’t the case? 


Nigel: We did have one angineer within Sinclair whe 
was appointed specifically as a liason with Timex. 
Timex may have asked hig advice about things, and he 
may have playad around with and looked at the 


"I wouldn't be totally amazed 

if I'd woke up in ten year's 

time and found that the product 
had both their(TIMEX and SINCLAIR) 
names on it." 


goma things like that. 
cartainly wasn’t something that we were 


But it 
working on. 
Tim Incidently, Timex is still fairly committed to 
secrecy over a lot of things that thay were working 
on. At the sama user group meeting, Billy Skyrne 
mentioned that he could only tell (the group members) 
about a few things, but that a lot of information 
couldn't be divulged because of contractual 
agroanente. 


Nigal: Hmmm, Well Timex did have some surprising 
Projecte going on. (a bit of silence) I mean I 
Probably shouldn't mention sone of the things for the 
ma reason, because 1 don’t know what they are doing 
with them today, but let's way that ono of the 
attractions of Sinclair and Timex, was that Clive’ 
always been interested in “miniaturization”. Hi 
launched at least s couple of wrist-based product 
wrist calculator that 
he had a watch radio. So at 1 


of 
not a watch, a digital watch, 


tt thre 


we products now, 


I think, that wera worn on the wrist. And Timex, and 
so far ae it is a watch company, and certainly 
understands that pecple may want things on their 


wrist that do more than just tell the time. Timex ha 
already preduced calculator watches, and they have « 
watch that has a lot of timing functions and so on, 
which hae been the best-selling single model of a 
watch for a couple of yeare in succession. 


So both Clive nd Timex have somewhere down tha 
road in thoir minds, a sort of “Dick Tracy" type 
thing with a television, and a telephone, and 


everything el 
your wrist. 


butlt into it, that you till 


ron 


Tim: Thie is still sonething that thay (Timex and 
Sinclair) are working on, not just a conception, but 
an actual praduct? 


Nigel: I mean it’s...you know, if I fell asleep row 
and woke up in ten year’s tim 1 woulda’t be 
Burprised to find either the Sinclair or the Timex 
name on a product like that. And I gu deapite the 
past hiatory that Timex and Sinclair's relationship 


ham nat been a mutually profitable one, I guess 
I wouldn’t be totally 
year’s time and found tha‘ 
nas on it. 


that 
ed if I'd woke up in ten 
he product had both their 


Tim: Ie Timex @till producing computers with Binclair 
technology at this time, or have they scrapped all of 
that? 


Nigel: Timex? As far as I know, Timex 1@ not doing 
any computer work et all. As far I oknow. Sut I 
Quese I wouldn’t know if they wer 


Tims Do they still have the rights to Sinclair tech- 
nology, or has the @ to Amstrad taken that ansy? 


Nigel: I’m pretty sure that the 


licensing agreamant 
between Sinclair 


and Timex has expired by virtue of 
Timax’s not offering any producta for sale for a 
certain period of time, the agreement would just 
terminate itself under those circumatanc: go I 
think that when Clive sold the rights to Amstrad to 
the personal computer stock, that would have included 
the righte which had formally belonged to Timex. 


Tim: Let's turn to the GL. You had a let mare “hands 
on“ with the GL project, than perhaps the 2x81 and 
Spectrum. What was your role in the davelopment of 
the QL? 


Nigwls Mostly Gort of conceptual. Originally the QL 
ww designed to have a built-in screen utilizing 
Sinclair's flat cathode-ray tubs technology. And it 
Was originally concetved to have a built-in modem. 
Some of the things that I remamber about it...,you 


know, obviously tha €lat screan got dropped simply 
baca that technology was not going to be manu- 
facturable in the time scale. The decision to use the 
68000 chip was made pretty early on. And although wa 
wort of wavered over that a number of times, the 
situation as I recall it im, that basically the 
engineers who were going to wark on the design of the 
machine, both from a hardware and a software point of 
view, would have had extremely little enthuelaem for 
using anything other than the 68000. They saw the 
68000 ae being the state of the art microprocessor 
And I suspect that we may have lost soma of tho 
people to other companies, while they would hava had 
the opportunity to work with the 68000. And I think 
that everyona would have agread that it didn’t 
Macessarily enable you to do anything that you 
couldn’ t have dane with others, particularly because 
we were using such a minimal version of the 68000, 
the 68008. But in the long term, it gave us an 
upgrade path aw well. Had the GL bsen mora successful 
you might be seating a GL today with 48020 or even a 
68030 in it. 
The software that Psion designed for the m 
pratty radical at the time, and that w. 
thing that I was involved in, certainly tha idea of 
having that software built in, It was something that 
I instigated with David Potter af Psion. 

I had been shown, in confidence, an 
sit wi 


acly 
ona 


of those situetions, where it 1d something 
that I'd already been thinking. I'd had thia idea 
which te me at the tise was an original idea, but I 


Probably, you know, r@ad it when I 
sometime-—stole it from somebody ao 
GEM, I knew that it was right. Th 
radical one at the ti 
should have 
point of view, locked just like a word-pracessor or 
the database. In other words, all the time that you 

ning to use the spreadsheet, shouldn't be 


was half asiacp 


But when Tt eaw 


ted when you wanted ta um dat program. 
ould Bee similar things on the in, The Fi 
key should do tha same thing, the F2 key, everything 


should be, the whole user interface should be ae 
mapped as closely as possible. And that was, in my 
mind, the most significant thing we were doing with 
the softwares from Psion, was not simply that we were 
offering t ef programs like that, but that they 
all worked in a similar way. 


Tims I have to ask you this. There was an 
with Sir Clive a while back, and the stat 


interview 
nt was 


13 


NIGEL SEARLE 


made by Clive that he wanted to use the Z80 processor 
in tha Qt, and that it was your perguasion that 
changed hia mind to use the 32-bit processor, and now 
(ooking back), he wished that ha had “stuck to hi: 
gune”, rather than listening to you. Haw do you fF 
about that statement? 


Nigel! Well, Clive’s hed a love affair with the Z60 
for a long time, as avidenced by the 288 computer. 
He's very impressed with the fact, that for a sere 
#0, you can buy this. incredibly powerful 
jor, which the 280 certainly im. Ha also, 
at one time, had a love affair with the 68000, And he 
and I viaited Motorola, I believe in January of 1982 
in Phoenix. And we had some very high-level meetings 
with people in Motorola. And Clive was very much con- 
vinced at that time, that the 68000 would be the way 
of the future, and was very taken with the idea, that 
he and nis company would be leaders in using the 
8000. That’s not to say that he didn’t subsequently 
decide that the 260 after all was much better. I 
think that maybe he got married to the 280, and had 
an affair with tha 68000, and then he went back to 
his "wife. 

And certainly, as far ag the GL was concerned, I 
don’t think {t was my idea originally to use the 
68000, but I think that we did go back and forward, 
and we considered using other processors including 
the Z80. Whan ultimately the decision was made, Clive 
is probably right, he probably said to ma eventually, 
“look, your running the company, your working with 
the guys who ere going to work on this project, you 
Gacide". And it’s possible in that @ense, that he 
chose to let decide, or he ltatened to my 
arguments, and was even persuaded by them, or thought 
that he ought to not ba making avery dacision in the 
Company on things like that. I have no doubt what— 
Boever though that both from the point af view that 
had the GL been successful, it would have given us an 
upgrade path, and from the point of view of 


PEEBODOREPESBGIEES 


GIFT TIME 
IS HERE 


dollar or 


ae 


& 


RMG wishes to show our gratitude 
for the continued support of TON 
feaders by offering a SPECIAL XMAS 
DISCOUNT on ANY disk system in our 
tegular line. If you get your disk 
system order in to us BEFORE 
12/15/88, AND include a copy of 
this ad, you will receive an added 


10% DISCOUNT 


off our already LOW prices! 
Includes AERCO or LARKEN SYSTEMS, 
Tf you have a catalog and wish to 
orders Just fill in the order form 
and deduct 10% from the item price 

ONLY! THEN ADD THE SHIPPING. 
DON’T WAIT! SAVE UP TO $40 TODAY! 


SSS 1819 1/2 7TH STREET 
OREGON CITY, OREGON 97045 
503/655-7484 ® NOON-10 TUE-SAT 


999999999999999999 


(NOT VALID WITH ANY OTHER SPECIAL) 


motivating people to wark on the project. 1 
believe we could have gotten 
working on a 280 project. 

I have talked to Clive about it more recently, 
and I irtainly expressed my view to him that the 
“Achilles’ Hoel” of the QL was the Microdrives. Maybe 
ha just chooses not to argue with me about it any 
longer (laughe). But obviously ae I he still 
has a pretty strong feelings about it. I'm sure that 
the use of the 280 in the 788 ts not sone sort of 
accident, it’s there by design. 


do not 
really good paople 


Tim: In another interview, more recently than the one 
I just mentioned, that he (Sir Clive) feels thet 
since disk dri: oJ chanical, and that all 
mechanical thinga will aventually be replaced by 
Solid state. I personally don’t eee thie occuring for 
soma tima, cf phasing out disk drives, hard driv. 
Srivos of any type. Why is it that he haa always b 
“anti-disk drive"? 


Nigel: (pause) 1 
(another pause), 
disk drive because 


don’t know. I think it is a 
I don’t think that he is just anti- 
it’s a mechanical cevice. The 
Microdrives are a machanical device as well. A disk 
drive ie always going to make a machine more ex~ 
pensivi because of the mechanism that’s gotta be 


ea nes 
“But I believe he is 
still working on... 
what we would call 
today, a SUPER 
COMPUTER..." 


built in there. It’s gonna have some speed prodleme 
because there isn’t equally instantanioue access to 
all parts of the drive. Disk drives are going to have 
the advantage of the media being very, very cheap. 
But ultimately, I guess there is no reason why solid 
state can’t be very cheap too. And Clive ta, in many 
respects, more of a semi-conductor person than a 
computer person. One of the reasons that he’s been 
abla to design some of the praducts he has at very 
low cost, is that he’s been able to take advantage of 
what the semi-conductor industry's producing and 
sometimes use it for purpases that it never intended. 
And he has a very good, vary dasp understanding of 
what's going on in the semi-conductor industry. And I 
think he believes that one of tha gaye, in 
sufficient volume, the semi-conductor industry will 
be able to churn out a 10 Megabyte chip cheaper than 
4) or very close to, as cheaply as you can produce a 


10 Megabyte dik. 


aking with you on the phone about 
impressions of the 788. At that time, you felt 


your 
that the machine was “a little late” in retrospect of 


the portable computar market. And then here, many 
months later, I find out that you are a key figure in 
marketing the machina here in the U.S. Why did you 
jump on the 288 "band wagon"? Did Clive give you an 


offer that you couldn't refuse? 


Nigel: No (pause) I think that the Z68, and I want to 
be careful about what 1 say, because I have sone 
knowledge of the company’s future plans and I don’t 
want to giva them away in any soni 
Sinclair Research @ personal computer company 
eventually became a company that did over 100 million 
Pounds Of business in a year. Then the exchanges rate 
was over 150 million dollars a year. It certainly 
Souldn’t have done that without the 2x80. The ZXx80 
was Succeseful product given what it was. But we 
sold a few tens of thousands of them world-wide, and 


it took us over a year to do that. Later on we sold 
4 


twice am many Spectrume ina cingle month as wi 


ever sold 2X80’s in a whole year 2X80 was 
aunching pad". @nc I guesa my fa about the 
288 are somewhat simitar. 1 think it will find a 


14 


market. I think it will be successful. But it will be 
@ limited market. We're not going to sel! millions of 
268’s. I think that if the company remains committed 
to the portable market, and looks at what it can do 
in the form of a 289, and the 290, and the 291. And 
makes the eame sort of progress that it made in going 
to the 2x80, to the ZX81, and to the Spectrum, and to 
the QL, than I think we can sell miliione of portable 
computers. Go, if I'd thought the 768 wae the end of 
the design line for portable computers, I’d 
got a limited 11 
other manufacturer 


the next 24 


months, But as long it’s tha company intention 
to itesif overtake the Z68 and these competitors 
with on@ or mor@ new products, than there's a real 


future there. 


Timt So Clive is working on other laptop: 


Nigels (emiling) I hope ao. 
Timt OK. 

Nigels I hope eo, because I mean not because I think 
the 288 ts the only portable computer thats really 


Small enough to carry around with you wherever you go 
at the moment, and it will remain that way for maybe 
another year, with luck maybe a little longer. But 
ultimately somebody’s going to bring out a praduct 
that will obsolete the 268, and the objective in this 
business ig to make eure that you obsolete your own 
Product before eomabody oles dose it. Go I sae the 
268 as vary akin to the Zx80. It’s a terrific first 
Product in the category, but I think that category { 
going ta be very competitive fairly quickly, and we'd 
batter ba doing something-~a major step forward, to 
remain competitive. 


Tims That*s sort of ironic, beacause the ZX8O was a 
$200 computer, and the 2X81 was a $100 computer, but 
with the 268 you have a #500 computer that peopl 
sinking @ good deal of money on, and then you rel 
another product--the 289 for such and auch a price. 
That’s going to be a little harder for people to 
Swallow when the naw product cones out. 


Nigel: That’s always been a tough problem in the 
computer businesa, and I just don’t know what the 
answer ia, I mean, would we make everybody happier if 


wa don’t bring out any new products? Or if we bring 
them out and charge twice as much for them? I don't 
sea any alternative. The products that are possible 
and the prices that are posible, are dictated by the 
underlining tachnology. And that te available in more 
or less equal measures to everybody, including ones 
competitors. If we can bring out a 2X01 that wae less 
expensive than the ZX80, there’s a good chance that 
Somebody alse would have done it. In fact, Commodore 
announced a couple of machines in that sort of price 
range at a Consumer Electronics show one yaar, then 
didn’t bring them out. Probably because they wouldn't 
have baen competitive with the ZxG1. 1 think that 
you've got to decide whan you buy a product whether 
ite worth what your paying for it now. 1 mean people 
payed $2000 for the Firat VCR, I payed $999 for one 
Of the first TR8-80 computers from Radio Shack with 
4K meaory and an integer-only BASIC. 


Timt Hew econ do you think another computer product 
will bs released, given a frame of tima? 


Nigwli I'm not prepared to say...1 really can’t say. 
Tims 1 have just a couple mors questions. Is there 
another computer product, not related to portables, 
coming out, or is the portable-thing consuming all of 
Clive’s time right now? 


Nigel! Clive has had an interest for a long time in 


computer design. And I don’t know much about this. 
But 1 believe he is still working on, with a long 
term objective of producing what we would call today, 


a “super computer“, with ome degree of parallel 
Processing, larg@ amounts of mamary, and probably a 
custom processor. 


Tim A “mini-Cray"? 


Nigel: A "mini-Cray". Yeah. 


Ties My final question is, overall, working etch 
Clive Sinclair and locking to the future, 
exciting? t be a lot more inter: ating 
then your a huffling* job? 


1 Oh certainly exciting. I supp 
xcitement comes from knowing that at any moment 
t you could be part of truly explasive growth. 
We started Sinclair Research in the States to 
x80, and we sold, I forget how many ZX80's 
but over a period of a little mora than a 
« Twanty thousand maybe, 
fall of 1961 we started selling the 2x81, 
and by the and of the year, we wae elf a 
million dollars worth of businesa a wm And we 
1ly want from virtually zero. The ZX80's had 
selling because the 2X81 had been launched in 
England, and we gat the ZX81 available in the States 
eventually approved by the FCC everything. And we 
just overnita want from a small office employing two 
people with hardly encugh to keep us busy all day, to 
where we were receiving several hundred orders a day. 
Running at million 


Bottle Cap 
Software 


Presents 


Graphit—-1 


First in a series of TSs2@68 
Information Charting Programs 


Personat Monthly sinclair 
Gaming usage per month 
Starting with July 1986. 


ott 00000 


imes as many input values 
as ouagre-thart. 


imensional bar graphing. 
points with connect 
Ts2040, 6 

reo I/F, 
modeivel. 
ndvor DATAQO. 


. 


v 
or 


Leoke Software Development 
VUALITY FRODUCTS FOR THE TS°2665) 


Join the world of Desktop 
Publishing with the 


fisel Print frofessignal! 


ferco Disk Yersion 
Cassette Version* 
A&J Microdrive*® 
Oliger Disk Version* 
Larken Disk Versiont 


these versions require 
at least a 32K RAM cartridse 
for BANK-SUITCHED meaory. 


+HOTE: the LARKEN version 
needs at least a 64K RAM DISK 
Desist hes expansion. 


Lemke “Software bevyelopment } 
B44 i Da 


Professional!. 


S<SEE ABOVE, W/EAN 
FOR FULL-PAGE DESIGN/SPRINTING) 


Masthead Package #2 
30 Great Graphics!! 


(30 GREAT, EYE-CATCHING PICS 
TO REALLY ADD ‘CLASS’ TO YOUR 
DESKTOP COLUHNS! JusT Loap 
THEN INTO THE DTP... ADD TEXT) 


Masthead Package #2 


(@2K RAN EXPANSION CARTRIDGE: 
WOLATILE MEMORY, PLUGS INTO 
CARTRIDGE DOCK. NOT LIMITED 
TO USE VITH THE DTP.? 


32K RAN Cartridge. .... $44.68 


(WITH THE PURCHASE OF THE 
PIXEL PRINT PROFESSIONAL «oe 
PURCHASED SEPARATELY, $47.95) 


1988 Personal Calendar PLUS! 


(LOAD INTO ALL VERSIONS OF THE 
PLUS! AND FROFESSIONAL. ADD 
FAMILY BIRTHDAYS... AND MORE!) 
CONES VITH 86 CUSTOMIZING HIGH 
RES. ICONS! CALENDAR COVERS A 
a4 HONTH PERIOD, JAN ‘85 THRU 
FEB ‘9@!) 


SevcDNLY $190.05e¢s¢es 


PRNTASTIC PONTS!---rvev see 


Ci6 POINT FONTS ARE DONE AND 
READY TO SHIP! 422 @X16 FONTS 
ONLY $14.95, AND 6 26X16 FONTS 


ALSO ONLY $14.95) 


PROGRAMMING 
PROBLEMS 


Write to Syd Wyncoop, c/o TIME DESIGNS, 29722 
Halt Rd., Colton, OR 97017. specializes 
in Timex/Sinclair (1000/1500 and 2068) BASIC, 
Machine Code, CP/M; and ig alse experienced 
in disk operating systems, other computer 


Jenguages...and MS-DOS(IBM). Even if you are 
@ beginner or an advanced programmer, why not 


write to Syd? That way, 
something. 


we will all learn 


~ The Editor 


I have just purchased a complete LARKEN disk 
drive system for my 2068 and I am wondering if I made 
a $497 mistake. I have read in various Timex Sinclair 
Publications where problems are encountered in con- 
verting programs from tape to disk. I have very 
little programming experience and no one in my area 
to assist me. 


Dennis Silvestri 
256 Lloyd St. 
New Haven, CT 06513 


Dear Dennis. 

You have raised two very important points. The 
first, is the importance of a user group. and the 
support that group can provide. I urge any readers in 
the New Haven area to contact Dennis. Without be- 
laboring the point. I cannot stress strongly enough 
the importance of a support group. even if only a few 
members are in the group. 

The second point is usually explained in the 
documentation provided with the disk system, Having 
said that, I must confess that I find most docu- 
mentation to be woefully lacking. 

The LARKEN disk aystem uses the conmand: 


RANDOMIZE USR 100 


This command initializes the disk drive system 
and ig followed by the disk commands, For example, 
suppose you want to LOAD a BASIC program from disk. 
The complete command would be: 


RANDOMIZE USR 100: LOAD “program.bi" 


An explanation of the ".b1" can be found in the 
LARKEN manual. Unfortunately, I do not have a LARKEN 
system, or a copy of the manual, but I believe thie 
command structure to be correct. I can say that 
other than supply delays, I have never heard of any 
problems with LARKEN or their products. 

The simplest method to learn disk commands is to 
make a list. Divide a sheet of paper in half and 
label one half “tape” and the other half “disk”. Now, 
write a tape command under the heading “tape” and 
start searching your disk manual for the 
corresponding disk command. After you have found and 
tested the proper disk command, write it on the other 
half, under the heading "disk" and immediately across 
from the tape command. Continue in this manner until 
you have determined all the needed commands. Keep 
this sheet with your disk manual for future reference 
and add all new commands or their variations to the 
list, as they are encountered. 


PROGRAMMING 
ADVICE 


The next item you will need is a tape header 
reader. There have been several published in Timex 
magazines. This utility will be needed for saving 
machine code or other binary memory images to disk. 
It will give you the start address and length of the 
machine code. 

Lastly, there will be a few programs which use 
fast loaders and headerless files. These will be very 
difficult te move from tape to disk. as they will 
require extensive assembly language experience. P 

= sya 


I have a 2068, AERCO FD-68 disk drive system, 
AERCO CPI, AERCO RS-232, CP/M(RPM) and a 2050 modem. 
Do you know how I can learn to program in Machine 
Code? I have a copy of HOT-2.AROS. Do you know if 
anybody has modified TECH DRAW JR for the AERCO disk 
system? 


Bill McKelvey 
Wall, New Jersey 


Dear Bill, 
You have asked a lot in very few words. Your 
first question, on Machine Code. is an area that hag 
been taught in TIME DESIGNS, as well as several 
others. However, the best method to learn Machine 
Code is to have a task you absolutely must do. a good 
instruction book and 4 friend you can ask questions. 
Then, start the task and do not quit until it is 
done. I guarantee you will learn Machine Code by the 
time you complete this process. While this may seen 
to be a rather stiff answer, I firmly believe it is 
the best answer. 
Machine Code is not so difficult that you cannot 
learn it, but there is a definite learning hurdle to 
be overcome. HOT Z.AROS is an excellent tool, but it 
is difficult to learn to use. I suggest the ZEUS 
ASSEMBLER for beginners. Zeus will permit you to 
concentrate on the task of learning machine code, 
without the additional overhead of learning a 
complicated program. 
I assume your question concerning machine code 
is prompted by your desire to convert TECH DRAW JR to 
disk. If this is true, you are tackling a difficult 
first task. TECH DRAW JR can be easily moved to disk, 
the code address is 30036 and the length is 38400. 
You have only to change the BASIC tape commands to 
disk commands. The changes necessary to the BASIC 
loader, in order to move the program to AERCO disk 
are: 
Line 5@, change the LOAD command to 
CAT "TDRAW, BIN", 

Line 9918, change the SAVE command to 
MOVE "TDRAW. BAS" ,1@ 

Line 9920, change the SAVE command to 
MOVE "TDRAW. BIN" 30036, 35400 


TECH DRAW JR is written to work only with tape. 
However, in order to change that, which I assume to 
be your real goal, you must disassemble the machine 
code and find the area that deals with the tape 
commands. You must then change thie area to branch to 
your disk command routine. I have written to the 
publisher of TECH DRAW JR. Zebra Systems, in search 
of this information and will publish any response I 
receive. 

~ syd 


I wrote a checkbook 
perfectly until the 
something went wrong. I 
ensioned arrays. 


program that worked 
last time I used it, and then 

store my entries in DIM— 
To get a print out, I enter the 
first number to start the list at, and then use a 
FOR/NEXT loop to do the printing. I have an input 
line that gets this number from me. Following that 
line, is one that prints out a sentence followed by 
the input variable. The last time I tried this, the 
Program broke out with a “variable not found" error 
message. I do not know what caused this to suddenly 


happen but whatever it is, it's saved with the 
progran, 
James Brezina 
Elmhurst. Illinois 
Dear Jim, 


Your letter is a little too brief for me to make 
an exact determination, so I will have to guess. It 
would appear that the variables area of your program 
has been partially “trashed”. Thies would account for 
the fact that the problem is SAVEd with the program, 
as the entire variables srea is saved along with the 
BASIC program. The simplest fix is to go back to the 
last copy of the program that worked properly and re- 
enter all data after that copy. 


Gon't File Your 1988 Tax Retur 


MNT Te WOU HAVE 


LITE —104 0-8 


‘The LARGEST SELLING 1¢5 2063 Incene Tax Program in america 


CEXEEEEREXZECECEREREERESESESEI 


INCLUDES: Form 1040, 1040A & EZ, 
B& R # Forms 2106, 2441 
ic Calculation Income _Tax 
y,Chitd Care Credit Tax- 
et Security, Earned In- 
i 
O40 Compatible # More 
ss] 


d 
THIS YEAR SCH C and $€ Included! 
Only $29.50 


GWIK-1040 is an 
Program. It wilt 
atlowable IRAS, In 
ductions accuratety, 
use of cumbersome in 
CALCULATION OF TAX L 
CREDITS IS AUTOMATIC 


— 
This progran vas designed with the taxvayer in wind, It is easy 
for you to accurately prepare your ovn incose tax return EVEN IF 


Postpaid 
1st Glass Rail- 


YOU HAVE NEVER DONE IT BEFORE! It is also sophisticated enough | 
to be used to prepare retums for others, with or without exper | 


fence. An idea] teaching tool for tax and accounting students, 


See&crAt: ir yo PF 
1987 QUIK -1040 FROM AsS*B+A SOFT 


The 1987 QWIK-1040 is STILL AVAILABLE for Just $12 POSTPAID. 
Send CHECK or MONEY ORDER (U.S. Funds) MMid-January Shipment Date 


HERB BOWERS, 
2558 Woodshire 
Chesapeake, VA 
Phone: 604 48 


eMultiple W-2 & 1099 } 


URCHASED 


T am assuming that there are no bugs in your 
program that have caused the difficulty, as you 
stated that you had used it for a while and it worked 
well. Therefore, the solution to your problem most 
probably is tied to some recent change you made in 
either the program or a hardware addition. You will 
need to conduct a thorough search for conflicts that 
may have caused these changes. 

Asan example, one of the most common causes of 
conflict is printer driver software. Check to be sure 
it is not l0ADing over-top of the tail end of the 
variables area. You could be inadvertently destroying 
some of your variables upon loading the printer 
driver software, especially if your dimensions are 
large and approaching RAMTOP. Have you properly reset 
RAMTOP? Also, is it a good copy of your driver 
software? A poor copy may work and appear fine, but 
could be overwriting the variables area. 

The bottom line is that this is one of those 
elusive problems that can come and go, and be most 
difficult to track down. A systematic approach be- 
ginning from the last known trouble-free point will 
eventually find it though. 


- Sya 


Oooo00co000000000g 


Nenitiinnee anno n TS nsesecsssssst cess rs Ses ser 


PROMISE LAND ELECTRONICS 
Dan Elliott, Owner 


Servicing computertzep 
electronic equipment 


COMPUTERS / MODULES / PRINTERS / MONITORS 


Sinclair QL TS~2068 TS-1500 TS-1000 


16K Ram Pack 2X-81 Menotech Modules 


Commodore 64 VIC-20 PLUS<4 C-16 


Coleco ADAM TI~99/4A Conmodore 128 
REPAIRS / UPGRADES / ASSEMBLING / TESTING 
Write for prices: 


Dan Elliott 
Route 1, Box 117 
Cabool, MO 65689 


f) Ph. (314) 739-1712 evenings, Sunday - Thursday. 
f] Ph. (417) 469-4571 weekends. 


UPDATE ! 
By 


Supporting the Sinclair QL, 288, and TS-2068 
Subscription $15.00 Year. UPDATE Magazine, 
1317 Stratford Ave., Panama City, FL 32404 


TS Communi 


Joe Williamson 


que 


Send a description of your computer hardware problems to the TS COMMUNIQUE, 


c/o TIME DESIGNS, 


29722 Hult Rd., Colton, 


OR 97017. Joe Williamson will 


discuss and possibly offer a solution for your 7$1000/1500, TS2068, QL, and 
owner end operator of @ successful 
electronic and video repair service in Gainesville, Florida; and a bonafide 


associated peripherals. Joe ig the 


Sinclair computer enthusiast. 


Can the MW-100 Mindware printer be used on the 2068 
computer? It was originally used on the TS-1000 printing 
16 coluans wide. 


Andrew Jubb 


Dear Andrew, 

That nindware printer connected to the TS-1000 in 
the sane way the 2040 printer did and although I haven’t 
tried it on the 2068, I don’t see any reason why it 
wouldn’t unless it requires the 9 volts that appears on 
pin four, bottom side of the rear edge connector and can 
easily be supplied. Good luck! -Joe 


From reading one of your TS Comsunique replies, I 
gather that you have a Sears TV/Monitor/RGB, as I have. 
Mine ts Model C539-14544, which may be slightly 
different than the units sold In the USA. 


Normally I use {t with my 1TS2068. However, on 
occasion I use it with ay 2X81. Thats when I encounter a 
problea, It works perfectly except when I load a program 
from tape. When I do that the screen rapidly turns 
black, and stays that way until loading is completed. 


T have attempted to cope with the problex 
seperate patch cords in the computer and TV, 
close together, thus getting a 
effect. However, this results in a 
running the program. Any ideas? 


by using 
laying thea 
capacitative coupling 

snowy picture when 


George Chanbers 
Scarborough, Ontario 


Dear George, 

The Sears monitor has a mute circvit in 
autes the picture when no sync or Improper 
detected. It 1s in there to help protect the set fron 
damage. During the LOAD/SAVE operations, the sonitor 
“sees* the black bands as !mproper sync and mutes the 
video, You can disable the nute function, but that aay 
cause problems down the road. 


it that 


sync is 


The mute also works In video and RGB mode, so If you 
experiment with connecting your 2068 to work with RGB, 
and have no picture, It is most likely due to poor sync. 
Joe 


How would you construct an Interface to drive one of 


those monitors sold by BG Micro? I’m talking about the 
type of TTL CRT that would require you toe take the NTSC 
signal from the 2068 and split It out to drive these 
monitors. 

John Shepard 

Coldwater, MS 


18 


Dear John, 
Until just recently I had always assumed that TTL 
monitors worked just Like RGB monitors but with just one 


luminance signal instead of three color signals. 
Vertical and horizontal sync are seperate on TTL 
wonitors and alot of RGB sonitors although most have 


composite sync inputs as well. 


I recently had a friend ask me to take a look at his 


IBM TTL monitor which had a bad fuse In it. After it was 
back In working order, I dectded to see how [It would 
work on my 2068. To make a long story short, It didn’t 


work! Apparently the TTl Honitors operate at a different 
scan frequency. If anyone has had success at connecting 
one of these monitors, let us know! Joe 


I recently purchased the Hacksel 
interface for the 2068 and I am atteapting 
with a Radio Shack DMP 105 printer. 


centronics 
to use It 


After loading all three codes (LPRINT, COPY, and HI- 
RES COPY), I can enable various print sizes (bold, 
elongated, etc.) when using MSCRIPT but have been unable 
to utilize them in BASIC programs, getting a standard 
print character regardless of the code sent (using 
LPRINT CHRS xx). 


The instruction sheet from RMG Enterprises says that 


the copy routines will work with an Epson coapatible 
printer (not mentioned in the advertisement), which I 
guess the DMP 108 {s not as I have been unable to make 


any screen copies. Each tine I do, I get an “Integer out 
of range" error. 


I have seen screen dusps of graphs sade on the DMP 
105 using a centronics Interface so I know the printer 
{s capable of this. Any assistance would be greatly 
appreciated, 
William Haines 
Schenectady, NY 
Dear Willian, 
By far the nost popular printer standard ts Epson 
30 most are Epson coapatible, although this isn’t really 
saying much as aost printers have their own {diosyn~ 


crasies anyvay. The DMP 105 claims to be IBM coapatible 
and should mean that it {s Epson compatible since Epson 
caters to the IBM market. 


I believe that the Radio Shack printers are nade 
Seikosha and the software should be configured to this 
brand If that option is avallable. LPRINT and LLIST 
should work on just about any printer, Epson conpatible 
or not. The differences come in when graphics are 
concerned. That Is where all the variations exist - 
think about how long it was before anyone cane up with a 
COPY routine for the Olivetti Inkjet printert 


by 


If you don’t have any options In your software, try 
different software like Zebra’s Zprint 80 which does 
support Seikesha printers, Also when calling for 


different type styles froa BASIC, most are double byte 
instructions. To set double width printing, you need to 
use: CPRINT CHR#(27);CHRE(14); or you could also us 
OUT 127,27:0UT 127,14. 


When using MSCRIPT, you don’t need to load any extra 
codes as HSCRIPT already has them bullt Into the 
program. I have had alot of letters about the DHP 105 
and the probleas associated with ther, read on. -Joe 


TT _ 


I have an Interface problem tnvolving my TS1000 and 
& Radio Shack DMP 105 printer. When using the Meropak 
centronics printer interface, the printer does not 
execute a carriage return when \t reaches the end of a 


line of text. This occurs when using Word Sync 11.4, 
Memotext, Memocale or just the interface fron BASIC 
using LPRINT. 

The computer and printer vork fine when using an 
Aerco CP-2X Interface, and the Meropak Interface vorks 
fine when using a Gorilla Banana printer. 

Refering to the DMP 105 control codes, the printer 


expects to receive carriage return (13d, ODh) at the end 
of a line. Perhaps you or one of your readers would know 
what to poke where to aake these vork. 


Bob Barnett 
Fort Myers, FL 


Dear Bob, 

It has been a long tine since I’ve seen a HMenopak 
but I recall there belng dip switches in It to control 
vartous functions to the printer. Check and see if there 
is a Ilnefeed/carriage return suppress switch available, 


Also, check the printer dip switches and try different 
configurations with thea. 


From the samples you sent, It appears that a line 
feed 19 being sent wlth no carriage return. Or, If the 
printer 1s bi-directional, something 18 keeping the 
print head from printing back the other way but this Is 
hot probable. Henotext itself may also have sore dlp 
switches you can try. Also try sending from BASIC: 
UPRINT CHRS (13) which should send a carriage return and 
Line feed each time tt {5 executed. Put that in a 
FOR-NEXT loop and try changing dip switches until the 
correct combination Is found. This technique is called 
sad-dogging but works better than pulling one’s hair 
out which Is what this problem sounds Ilke! -Joe 


7—_—————— 


The article regarding the non-linearity of the 2040 
printer appeared in the May/June ‘85 issue of TDM on 
page 12. 

Here 1s a sample printout and a listing of the 
program which produced It. Haybe this Inforaatlon will 
help Don Balwer to solve his problea. His TV and/or 
printer may require sone experimentation to find the 


exact correction factors. 


Paul Synder 
Chattanooga, TN 


‘| RO CORRECTION 
\ 


ea 


7™] 


i, 


SOPRECTED FOR SCREEN; 
HORIZONTAL OIMENSIONS 
MULTIPLIED BY 1.13 


— 

/ CORRECTED FoR PRINTER; 
HOBIZONTAL. BEMENSIONS 

\ MULTIPLIES BY 1.23 

S 


200:PLOT 9,174. CRAY 54,0. _DRAU 
@.-S4 DRAU-54.0° ORAU 8.54 
202 Ley C27. CET Rees. FOR Neo 
TO 2s5I STEP Pivso: PLOT CeReCO 
SM.147eASSIN WO NEXT N 

229 PLOT 0,128. DRAW Sa#1.23,0: 
DRAW 0, -S4! DRAU -5442.15,3° DR 
ADO) S4 

pede bE SeeZshea3 Let uses: ve 


F1.23 "FOR NzO TO 2e71 STEP 
PI/30 “PLOT CemeCOS N,57+U4SIN 
No CNEST ON 
220 PLOT 0,54. pRAU 8442.25.90 
GRAY O--54° "DRAW ~54e2.03/0" ‘DRA 
a 4 
222 LET C=2701.23: LeT U25__LE 
T H=Usl.25 "FOR Nae TO 2ser STEP 
PI-GO PLOT Comecds NEF euUeSIN 
NL UNEXT ON 


er 46. 30/“RORTZONTAL DIMENST 
AT 19/20; "MULTIPLIEO BY 1.2 


280 LERINT 
LLIST 200 
293 Stop 


COPY © LPRINT ‘° 


Dear Paul, 

Thanks for finding that for us. That May/June ’85 
article was written by Dick Wagner of Canby, Oregon and 
covered several points on graphing different calculated 
functions. Joan kealy aiso wrote In and sald that Oleg 
Yefmenko also had an article out which T believe was In 
Syntax a few years back which is the article I 
remember seeing. I’m surprised Tim didn’t reacaber 
Dick’s article of a few years ago! -Joe 


Dear Jos, 

Guess the ‘ol memory is slipping. I've heard that 
“early senility" is a complication that editors can con~ 
tract. Meanwhile, Dick Wagner sent in these conments 
regarding non-linearity of printers. -Tim 
Dear Joe, 

Concerning Don Balmer's comments about the 


non-linearity of the TS2040 printer (large printers are 
not necessarily linear either) in your last TS COMMUNIQUE 
column, please refer to my article in the May/June °85 
issue of TDM. entitled "A Graphic Problem for the T/S 
206: Paragraphs four and five comment on this. 


My 2040 prints a rectangle taller than wide when I 
screen draw a equere. What I am doing in this article ig 
to multiply the X axis by 1.24 to make it print 24% 
wider. The COPY command makes this a equare on tho 
printer from a rectangle on the screen. For my Panasonic 
printer, the X exis is wider so I multiply the Y axis 
dimension by 1,18. Of course. the opposite axis can be 
divided by the same numbers, depending upon the desired 
final printed size. 


Use the multiplyer in the DRAW part of a program as 
DRRAW 1.24*60.0 for a longer horizontal line. or DRAW 
0.1.16°80 for a vertical line, This won't work for the 
CIRCLE command. so apply the same approach to the circle 
formula, Multiply the COSine part of the formula by 1.24 
for the 2040 printer. or the SINe part of the formula by 
1.18 for the Panasonic printer. 


To calibrate a printer. print a large Square on the 
acreen and then COPY to the printer. Use a metric or 
decimal scale (preferred) to measure the printed image, 
The ratio of the larger dimension to the smaller (divide) 
will give the correction factor. 


Keep up the good work on your TS COMMUNIQUE column. 
It shows that there are still many of us computer buffs 
who require help. 


Dick Wagner 
Canby, Oregon 


GIVEA 
iil GIFT SUBSCRIPTION 


& 


TO TIME DESIGNS 


caTCH “%y, 
A DRAGON! Sp 


by Gregory C. Harder 


In the December 1983 issue of BYTE Magazine an 
article entitied "A Tiger Meets A Dragon” by Dan 
Rolling appeared. This article contained a program 
listing. written for a TRS-80 computer, which plotted 
“dragon curves" on an IDS PAPER TIGER printer. I have 
converted the program to plot dragon curves ona 
TS1000/2ZX81 equipped with 6K static RAM, a 16K (or 
more) RAMpack, and the SCRAM HI*RES EXTENDED BASIC 
However, since there are not too many SHREB 
specific lines in the listing, it should be easy to 
convert to a 752068. considering the similar resolu- 
tion and screen formatting 

So what is a "dragon curve” anyway? A dragon 
curve is a regular fractal which forms from an 
infinitely repeated construction process. To quote 
from D. Rollins’ article: “A method to generate 
simple low order dragons is to fold and refolda 
narrow strip of paper. Visualize a flat strip of cash 
register tape, as an order-O dragon curve, Fold it 
once in the center, and you have an order-1 dragon. 
Bi-secting the tape by folding it "n" times, always 
in the same direction, will create an order-n dragon 


curve. Now unfold the tape so that the creases form 
90-degree angles. The unfolded tope will have a 
pattern left and right t that wind around in 
seemingly random directiona. a dragon curve.” 


Luekily, have to understand the mathe— 
matics behind the process in order to enjoy the 
beauty of these cur Incidentally, the dragon 
curve got its name ne resemblance some people 
see to a classic or agor 

LOAD your SHREB program into your computer, then 
delete line two as we will not need the 64 charactor 
print routines. Be sure to POXE 18080.208 and POKE 
18081,75. Enter Listing 1 and you have the completed 
@ragon curve generator ready to RUN. Enable your 
SCRAM board before running. 

The program will ask for several inputs before 
plotting the dragon, most of these are  self- 
explanatory. SIZE is the order (number of folds) for 
the dragon curve. DIRECTION-REVERSAL-SEQUENCE is the 
direction of the folda (i.e., left or right). If you 
choose you can have the dragon automatically centered 
on the screen, if it will fit. 

Once the dragon is finished, you will be taken 
to a menu of options. These again are  self- 
explanatory. One interesting option is to run a new 
dragon without erasing the previous one, This will 
allew you to connect dragons together and create even 
more intricate patterns. 

If you want to run the program on a TS2068, omit 
the IF USR HR THEN sequence, and all references to 
SLOW and FAST mode. etc. Algo, change YM at Line 5070 
Four order-7 dragons connected by tail~ to 176 
“RRLLRLR"; scale1, x=128, ys96, THEN 
1.2.3.4 for directions. 


NEXT _K 


J 
57O LET SP=SPena+r 
3 


DRAGON GENERATOR SHRES VERSTON TE D<T THEN LET OeNns 
IF D)N4 THEN LET O=F 
For kKsI TO Ne 
LET +X (OT) 4x 1D) 


xL 
XA 
YL 


"ses" MAND X> 20 


20 FOR UsI TO LT oO wyHeay 
By SSR a aie an a EE BSA“ EEsP att 
NEXT K S40 FOR Ke. oe YHevtts (NS #50) 

98 LET Dab+(Bslu) ="R") -(B$(u) Esk = RPE * AND TBStK) = Lu HH-YE 


us 20 


995 en eT. 
1000 IF USR HR THEN Rui 


1010 Ie, USR HR THEN BRuse x4 
1030 BETuEN 
$300 TF VERO a 


$020 LET O=NOT er 
S020 LET I=PIver 
S030 LET N2=I+T 
5030 LET Nasval 
SOS0 LET HR=vAL 
5070 LET YH=vAL 
S030 LET xM=vAL 


gage PRINT SE 
sagnSize OF DRAGON 


=UP TO 13 FOR’ 16k? 
Sii@ INPUT N 

5120 PRINT. » "DIRECTION REVERS 

AL; SEQUENCE? go" STRS OF L®S AND 

EX~' AMPLE: LURRLRRR 

ThBUT age eS GENERATE A 

“aan OM SEQUENCE.”) ,,,"DEFAULT= 

» THE CLASSIC DRAGON CURVE. 


9400" THEN CLS 


"OR DSP) ="RY O 
SG" THEN NEXT P 
IF PSLEN O$+2 THEN GOTO VAL 


CLS 
PRINT “IMPROPER INPUT TRY A 


GOTO VAL _“siz0" 
IF 6$c0"G" THEN GOTO VAL “Ss 


LET Dge"" 
POR Jel TOM 

LET PeVaL "INT (RND4.S: 
LET D$s0$9(°C" AND PIat“R™ 
NOF p> 


So PETNT “RIRECT ION-REVERSAL~S 


TET CAEN os 


S430 PRUSE YH 

5430 FAST 

$450 GOSUB VAL "SE2" 
cis 


5470 IF os THEN GOTO VAL “SS 


5475 SLOW 
S430 PRINT “ INPUT STARTING X CO 


§499 INPUT x 
5395 PRINT X 
5500 PRINT 


8510 INPUT 
§51S PRINT 
5520 PRINT. 
RECTION, + 3" 
GaN “a=: 
8830 INPUT SD 

SS40 IF X<0 OR x>xM OR ¥<O OR Y> 
YHOR $0 <2 OR SD>NE THEN GOTO VA 


J" INGUT STARTING ¥ 


INPUT STARTING DI 
s"LsuUP BsLEFT “320 


aI 
EN GOTO VAL “Ss 


Ler. 
PRINT ,,°STANOSYE.. Saad 


PAUSE YH 
$720 GOSUB VAL “7E2" 
$730 IF YDcevM AND XO<=xH THEN G 


oT VBL 

12." PLOT WON'T FIT.", 
ree NEUT (S)TARTING X,¥ COORD: 
OR (NEU DRASON.” 
S780 INPUT os 
S768 IF Q$<>"N" THEN GOTO VAL “Ss 


S660 IF F THEN PRINT ,,“PEEK AT 
CURVE BY HOLDING DOWN'A KEY. 
$570 PRINT |, "REVERSED DISPLAY ¢ 
8330 INPUT Os 

$390 LeT Dpsas="y¥" 

5900 If USR HR THEN RUN 

8810 IF OP THEN IF USR HR THEN R 


AND val “a2” 
Beco" RFP THEN PAST 
$2930 CLS 
7080 GOTO VAL "10" 
7995 REN 
a000 PAUS! 
“1, START N 
AVE SCREEN", 


REVERSE DISPLAY: 
TOP 
“Os 


8050 PRINT “;SC; TRB O,,” 
OIRECTIONS 
8@50 LET @: 


NKEY $ 
8070 IF Q$s"" THEN GOTO VAL “606 


8030 IF CODE Qs<CODE “1” OR CODE 
OS CODE "6" THEN GOTO VAL “8060 


3090 IF Qs<> THEN GOTO VAL “8 
2OO"4VAL "IER"FiVAL Os) 

8190 IF USR_HR THEN COPY 
9110 Pause 
31 


29 GOTO VAL “e060” 


209 CL: 
8220 RENT “ERASE PREVIOUS ORRGO 
NOON) 2 

8220 INPUT Qs 

8230 CLS 

8240 IF Q$="Y" THEN RUN 


8250 CLEA 
288 SOTO VAL “S010” 


L, 
8319 SAINT “ save NAME? 
9320 INPUT O% 
8330 IF_USR_NR THEN SAVE a$,$ 
3339 Soto VAL -s010" 
8300 If USA He THEN _RUN 
8440 ZF INKEY$<>"" THEN GOTO VAL 


a ih ae 

LET LTeNeseNer 5773 GOTO VAL "S200" 420 IF INK! a" THEN 

Bagger ee HEP Svs LIB teat Piet 
2 Par Se t0in0bs as atieora. vay “eu2e" 

shai Ft ae ato? 3398 ter itt] 8500 IF USR HR THEN RUN 

ver SC=ABS SC $836 rey hett4 8510 IF USR MR THEN RAND VAL “31 

BRENT “AUTO-CENTER DRAGON © bag0 CRANE ve" 3L0W OR FAST MODE sae gore: VAL “8210" 

¥ 24} 2" 834¢@ INPUT Os B00 SAVE “DRAGONES 

INPUT Qs 8350 LET FeQsa"F" 9010 RUN 

CLS GOOO REN 


S100 PRINT “STANDBY: 


S410 Let spo 
$420 LET Te2d 


AFR SOFTWARE ® 


Powerful And Inexpensive 
Business Software 
For" Timex-Sinclair" 


RR RERARRRREREREEEA 


GIFT TIME 
ALREADY? 


IT SURE IS! 
How about giving your favorite 
TS-er_ a great holiday gift: 
A LARKEN 2068 DISK SYSTEM 
As our way of saying thank you for 
your continued support, RMG will 
sell you a COMPLETE disk system 
for_ontys : 


$175.00! 


(Plus $12 P&H) 
System includes 2-3" SSDD drives 
case/power supply/cable 
AND the LARKEN LKOOS I/F with s/w. 
WHERE HAVE YOU SEEN SUCH A DEAL? 


System is aso compatible with the 
new LARKEN RAMDISK. Don’t wait! 
OFFER ENDS 1/15/88 - POSITIVEL 


RNG ENTERPRISES 


199 1/2 7TH STREET 
OREGON CITY, OREGON 97045 
503/655-7484 # NOON-10 TUE-SAT 


UAPSISESPPLPISPP PPO? 


Send SAS.E For FroeCatalog 
‘Or Check Or Money Orso To: 
AF-A.SOFTWARE 
1608 Pennaytvania Ave. 
Wo. 204 
‘Mined Seach, FL33198 
(205) S01-6464 
“FLORIDIANS ADD SALES TAC 
Donec igs kv 


0° 


CREATING A FOUR-PORT<*8 


EXPANSION DECODER 


by Ed Fry 


I was impresaed with Ed’s Expansion Decoder project 
when he demonstrated it at the Northwest TS Mini-Fair 
this past summer. It was attached te, and controlled 
a@ variety of external gadgets, including a motor 
driven shaft. an array of LEDs. With the low cost 
(going price about $10) and plentiful ipply of 
surplus TS1000 and ZXx8is, this expansion device just 
might make an ideal construction project for the 
winter months. article appearing in this issue 
covers all of the necessary schematics, instructions, 
and theory to put it together; in another article (or 
articles), Ed will discuss how to use and put it to 
work for you. A variety of suggestions have been 
made: remote controller for a sateliite dish, burglar 
alarm system, weather station, and mode! railroad 
applications. In the article Ed of. parts kit, 
and be sure to write, if you have any comments or 
questions. 


~ Editor 


As most faithful Sinclair owners know, our 
gracious Sir Clive did not allow the user access to a 
fine feature of the 280 CPU known as IROQ (input/out- 
put request). 

You could, of course, tie into the keyboard 
inpute and use an amplified signal to trigger an SCR 
out of the earphone jack. but that would only allow 
one bit; it would also use up valuable memory. 

The most efficient way to do it on our computer 
would be to “POKE and PEEK” and “memory map" the I/O 
out of the range of present ROM or RAM. This is where 
the Expansion Decoder comes into play. 

We all know that Sinclair cut a lot of corners 
wherever possible. The Z80 CPU is capable of directly 
accessing 65,536 (64K) bits of memory. Due to the in- 
complete memory decoding in the bare ZX81, about 55K 
of that memory is “images” of the 8K ROM and 1K or 2K 
RAM. This means that the 8K ROM plus it's images 
occupy 32K of memory, and the RAM occupies the other 
32K. Why?? 

(NOTE: From this point on. any time you see a 
number preceded by a "$", it represents that the 
number is a HEXADECIMAL number). Now, to repeat 
myself, the Z@0 CPU is capable of addressing one of 
any 65,536 addresses or bits ($0000 thru $FFFF) by 
Placing the bits on the 16 (0-15) address lines "hi" 
or “low”. Decoding is the process of generating a 
“strobe” whenever a particular address combination 
appears on the “Address Bus". 

When decoding for memory, a large number of 
address combinations must be decoded to provide a 
atrobe that activates the memory chip whenever any 
address in that range is on the bus. Each memory chip 
has its own internal decoding to select the exact 
byte in the range of the address to read. This latter 
stage of decoding in an 8K ROM for example, de- 
termines which of the 8,192 bytes in the ROM is to be 
sent to the Z80. In order to make this selection, the 
lower 13 address lines must be wired directly to the 
ROM, and the address strobe, decoded from the re~ 
maining three address lines, is wired to the ROM's 
chip select pin. The chip select requires a low in 
order to become active. 

In a fully decoded system, all three upper 
address lines (A13. Ald and A15) would go through a 
decoder, that would provide a low-going strobe to 
select the ROM when its address range (for example, 
90000 to $1FFF) is selected. In the 2X81 and TS1000, 
the 8K ROM is activated anytime the address line A14 
is at a low level, and the 1K/2K RAM is active 
anytime (thru an inverter chip) Ai4 is high. 


22 


What does this do to address space?? Let's 
at our three 
first 13 are 


100k 
upper address lines (knowing that the 
directly wired to the ROM). Let's let an 


"X" = a "I don't care" 

"2" = a "high" 

“ou oe Lone 

The ROM is active when- A1S=X Al4=0 A13*X 

Or when these combinations 

appear— ° 0 0 
° oO a 
1 ° t) 
1 ° : 


As you can see, this will activate the 6K ROM a 
total of 4 different address locations, or the 
original plus three images for a total use of 32K of 
memory space! The same thing happens with our 1K or 
2K RAM. except we have either 31 or 15 images 
respectively. Anyway we look at it, there goes our 
64K of memory. 

If you would like to prove the existence of 
those "images", here is a little program you can run. 
What we will do is look or PEEK at the first byte of 
ROM and then compare it to the first byte in all the 
remaining ascending 1K blocks to the end of the 64K. 
Wherever it matches, it will print that address 
location on the screen. 


LET AS=0 Since rom address starte 10 
LRT B=PEEK (AS? Assign byte to B to compar 
FAST You can leave 1t slow 

FOR Ne0 TO 68535 STEP 1024 To 64K in 1K steps 

IF PB&K B=B THEN PRINT K, Making comparison 

WEXT N You know what this does 
sLov if you want 


The following diagram is a representation of the 
Sinclair Memory Map before and after our Expansion 
Decoder has been added. 


FEES 


16 1K RAM 


Gratton, IMAGES 


VIB ULE CunpALLY 

Zin Wy RAD OF 

SEH RAM 
SYSTEM? 


s0d9g-socce 


284 ROM 
IMAGES 


Bue tos 


AVRILABLE 
(AVOLLY LOK 


2H STRORES 

Z THESE Wt 

lbh lsaeed-szce—| aoneresen 
QRIGINAL ORIGINAL 1/0. poars 


8K ROM 8K ROM 


CONSTRUCTION TIPS (g) Slide thie 1 1/8 inch ptece of ineulation againet the 


solder at the start point. DO NOT CUT THIS "TRACE” 


UHTIL ALL +5 VOLT POINTS ARE COUMECTED!!!!t 
REMEMBER YOU ARE WORKING ON THE BOARD UPSIDE DOWN. 80 a) 


Find your next point again. Place unsoldered end 
pre an PINOUTS, LAYOUTS, ETC., ARE A MIRROR of 1 1/8 end of insulated wire at the next point 


«point "A”), as close as possible to the insulation. 
(4) Repeat step (a). 
(1) Use a fine steel wool to clean any tarnish off the foil 


side of the P~board, SUBS INSULATION 
P pos 4 


<2) Locate and solder all components, connectors, and IC 
sockets to P-board. 


<3) Solder all +5 volt connections, then solder all ground 
connections. 


(4) Solder one chip at a time. Example: say you ore starting 
with IC#i-pin #2. You also have a connection to the edge 
connector-#4a and IC#0-pin #3. Make all those connections 
then go back and finish the other connections on IC#1. 


(5) Pick up a wire-wrap tool at Radio Shack, or other alec- 
tronics supplier. The Radio Shack tool has a little 
stripping tool inside the barrel of the wrap/unwrap tool. 
These taole run about $5.50, Buy some hook-up wire to 
match the gage of the stripping tool. Diagram B 

<6> Vhen making a connection that goes to more than one point 
you might follow these instruction 
We will use the +8 volt run for an example. It has app- 
roximately 23 points to connect in the one run! 


(a) First find all the points to be connected (remenber 
the edge connector or if you build your own supply you 
will want a connecter to the power supply and a con- 5 00 
nection to the +5 volte for the inputs). ae 

<b> Find the shortest route, ‘you might use the layout Sone seh GITENDER FoR 
sheet and lightly draw the path.) 

(©? Cut @ length of wire to follow the route laid out plus 
about 2 1/2 inches. (We will call this a trace.) 

(a) Strip about 1 inch ef insulation off one end. 

(a) Heat the solder to the melting tempature at the point 
you have decided for the start. Immediately etick the 
@nd of the wire into the melted colder and remove the 
the solder tron. Let cool for a couple of seconde and 
let go of the wire, Give a little tug on wire to make 
sure of a good solid connection 

(4) Find the next point. Strip a length of insulation 
approximate to the distance between the two points 
If the distance between the two points is 1 inch then 
strip a length of inavlation about 1 1/8 inches long. 


Stage THs PGCE oF WsuLATON Te BTART 
RATER Sacecang 


<j) Repeat steps (h) thru (1) until “trace” is complete. 


After last point is soldered trim off any extra wire 
with a razor blad 


(x) Go to next trace and continue till done. 


Diagram A CUT AWAY Vinwe 


OF Po Bonne 


7aLsoa, TaLs20 7ausi2s o. 
8. 8. 
aw 7 a; 7 ~ o) 
7 
2 Lane 4 ® +f 
¥ yO & & w 
af 4 4 it ry 
u oy 4 
¥ 2 & ra 
2 
eB * é ie 
“e h 


“Daddys ot mod.Dody et warts to kxow how you 


741S138 


(7) For the TS1000 edge connector you will probably have to 
start with either a 50 cr 100 pin connector and cut it to 


40 


Ping. Ba sure to buy one that bas .100 inch spacing and 


also that the pins will go thru the holea tn the P-board 


and have enough length to attach the extender card. 


«no 


less than 1/4 inch.) 


(@)The extender!!! 
Here is how. 


«> 


«b> 
«> 


«a 


ce 


ice) 
> 


a 


You probably will have to make one. 

«Here wo have & bunch of etepe again. > 

You will need @ piece of double eide copper clad 

circuit board 2 3/8 inches long, 1 inch wide, and 

062 inches thick. 

Wext you will nead some drafting tape. .050 wide 

would be ideal but .062 wide ie m atandard size. 

The last thing to buy is some circuit board etch 

solution. 

Plug the circuit board into the female edge con- 

hector. Use this as a guide to mark the board for 

placing the tape. Mark the board BETWEEN EACH 

SET OF CONTACT PINGERS, mark beth sides without 

disturbing the board. 

Remove tha board from the connector. Place the tape 

CENTERED between the marke on the board. Go around the 

the board for both top and bottom “t cut the 

tape and repeat for the other 44 "trace 

Make cure there ara no wrinkles or bubbles in any of 

the pieces of tape. 

Wix the etch soluation and etch according to direct- 

Check to make sure 411 exposed areas of copper 

‘emoved, 

well with warm water. 
Dry. 

off board. 


Remove tape, Rinse again 
Use fine steal wool to clean any residue 


PARTS LIST 


PARTS LIST FOR MAIS DECODER AUD 1/0 BOARD 


ict, 
1¢3 
16 
13 
100, 107 
Tes 


Bi «174 ate 1000 O1KS 7 
R214 Vatt 270 OHKS 3 


icz, 1cv,1c1e—7ausizo 
74Ls20 
74LS130 
TAL S04 
7atsi78 
7aLS02 


QUAD TRI-STATE BUFFERS 
DUAL 4-INPUT AND GATES: 
3-LIB TO S-LIN DECODER 
HBX ISVERTER 

QUAD D-TYFE_FLIP-PLOP 
QUAD 2-IMPUT NCR CaTaS 


14 PIN DIP Ic socKETs 
16 PIM DIP Ic SOCKETS 


: 4 CIRCUIT DIP svITCH 


CONMECTOR POR TEPUT 
CONNECTOR FOR OUTPUT 
40 PIX EDGE CONNECTOR 
46 FINGER EXTEYDSR CARD 


keeo text> 
(woe text? 
<see text> 
Keew text? 


PERP-BOARD (P-BOARD) RADIO SHACK #276-167 (cut tn half? 
MISCELLANEOUS 
FIYE STERL VOL 


wire 25 VATT OR LESS SOLDERING TRON Ceoo high 
will Life the colder pade off the P-board? 


ROSIN CORE SOLDER 
fo wattage 


PARTS LIST FOR INPUT TRST/DRKO C1RCUIT 


16 PIM DIP socKers (2) 6 CIRCUIT DIP B¥ITCR 
S CIRCUIT 4.7K DIP BETVORK or (> 1/0 or 1/4 watt 4.7K resistore 
CONWECTOR TO MATCH CONNECTOR ON DECODER/FORT [uPUT 


PARTS LIST FOR OUTPUT TRST/DEKO CIRCUIT 


16 PIM DIP socket <8) RECTANGULER LEDS (any color) 
COMMBCTOR TO MATCH CONNECTOR OF DECODER/PORT OUTPUT 


(OPTIONAL) PART@ LIGT POR POVER BUPPLY 


‘TRANSFORMER 
7005 +5 VOLT REGULATOR 

HBAT SINK FOR RECULATOR (optional but worth {t) 
BRIDOH RECT EF: ALBEXUX OF SO VOLTS @ 1 ARP 
Ba00ur © 25VDC ELECTROLYTIC CAPACITORS 

4.7 ef @16VDC TANTALUK CAPACITOR 


415 VAC PRIMARY AMD DUAL 12VAC SECONDARY 


WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE TRANSFORKER ALL THE PARTS 18 
THE LAST THRES LISTS SHOULD MOUNT OM THE OTHER 172 OF THE 
RADIO SHACK P-BOARD XEMTIONED (H TKE DECODER PARTS LIST. 


For the purchase of the connectors and IC 
sockets, I would recoumend checking with any surplus 
stores or suppliers in MODERN ELECTRONICS or other 
electronic oriented magazines before Radio Shack 
(Radio Shack is the least expensive source of plated 
P-board I have found) . 

The 1/0 connectors can be of your choice, but I 
found the 8-pin sip header was the easiest to use. 
Whatever you use. be sure to get male/female pairs. 

You can power the board from the TS supply, but 
if you want to add much in I/O you will have to be 
careful. The TS supply will only carry an additional 
350ma or so (if you have the 1 amp power pack), much 
less if you have the old 650ma power pack. Strange 
things will happen if you overload the power supply. 
T have included a simple regulated +5 volt power 
supply and unregulated 12 volt supply. The 12 volts 
may be regulated with a +12 volt regulator and the 
same basic circuit as the +5 volt supply. (The 12 
volts will be used on a later project for the output 
port.) 

To test the power supply, plug in and check 
voltages. CAUTION: YOU ARE DEALING WITH 110 VOLTS. IT 
POTENTIALLY CAN KILL! ! 

The construction of the 
is the same as the main 
additional reference I have 
drawings of all the ICs used 


two test/demo circuits 
decoder 1/0 board. For 
also included circuit 
in the project. 


REKKEKKEKK 


A complete set of “hacker parts" can be obtained 
from the author (some parts are new and some are 
used, but ALL are gueranteed good)... 1: the circuit 
Doard and connectors. This inclu e@  test/demo 
boards, BUT not the optional power supply parta. Th 
price for the parts kit is $20 + $1.50 S&H (while 
supplys last). I will also provide @ transformer with 
dual 12 volt seccndaries suitable for the optional 
power supply for an additional $2.00 + $1.50 S&H, if 
ordered with the main parts kit. Send check or money 
order to: ED FRY, 7044 NE. 6th, Portland, OR 97211. 


KEELER 


DO NOT connect the 1000 ohm resistor to ROMCS at 
thie time, Using an ohmmeter or continuity checker, 
check for shorts between +5 volt contact (1B) and GND 
(4B and 5B). You should read an open circuit. If any~ 
thing else ie noted, find out why. You will probably 
find a small solder bridge between two pins on 4 
socket. Check any point where the +5 volts and ground 
are adjacent to each other. Check continuity between 
11 adjacent edge connector contacts on both "A" and 
'B" sides of the board. You should get no readings 
between any two contacts except ground pins B4 and BS 
(if these two pins are not tied together, do so now, 
they HAVE to be tied together). 

AT NO TIME SHOULD YOU PLUG OR UNPLUG THE BOARD 
FROM THE EDGE CONNECTOR WITH THE POWER ON. Plug the 
bord into the TS connector. The board should NOT have 
any ICs in any sockets yet!! Turn on the power. You 
should have a cursor immediately. If not. unplug the 
power and look for the short. When you get the 
cursor, remove the board. 

Now you can connect the 1000 ohm resistor to 
ROMCS, insert IC3 (74LS20), IC4 (7418138), and ICS 
(741804). Plug the board back in. You should again 
immediately get the cursor. If not, check for solder 
bridges on one of the three IC sockets you just 
inetalled. Correct the problem (also be sure that you 
have all the ICs installed correctly and not 
oriented backwards). Now you can run the "ROM IMAGE" 
program at the beginning of thie article again, You 
should only have a "0" on the screen. If you do not 
get a “O" then you probably have an IC incorrectly 
wired. Correct the problem. When you can run the 
program and come up with “O" then continue. (No 
images means the decoder is working.) Next insert ICi 


and IC2 (74L$125), 1C€6 and IC7 (74LS175), and IC8 
(74L804). Plug the board in again, if no cursor, 
remove and check the sockets of the ICs last 


installed for solder 
problem corrected, 


bridges. When you have the 
insert the last two ICs. IC9 and 


IC10 (7419125). Go thru the check procedure again. 
When all the IC# are inserted and cursor comes on 
properly, the board is complete. Run the "ROM IMAGE" 
program one more time, make sure of the "0" readout 
and we will go to the I/O test/demo. 


OUTPUT PORT TEST/DEMO 


We are going to discuss just a little bit about 
binary numbers (if you need more infc, you should be 
able to get a book at the library). First, the 
t number in decimal that we can express with an 

git binary number is 255 (i.e., 112111111). The 
smallest is 0 (i.e., 00000000). Just as decimal deals 
in powers of 10 (i.e., 1, 10, 100, 10000, etc.), 
binary deals with powers of 2 (i.e.. 1. 2. 4, 
etc.). Since we will only be dealing with 6 digits of 
binary, I will stop at the 8th power (128). 
grid chart is provided to further the discussion. 


DECIMAL 
1 


135 = 
16 
254 5 
124 = 


Erccas pomanat nomnn| manne omen] manny nomen) ennnnt 


To convert a decimal to a binary number, select 
the decimal number, in this case 124. Start with the 


eighth of the powers of 2 columns (i.e., 128). 126 
Will not subtract from 124 (we are only using 
positive numbers), so we place a “O" in the 128 


column, 64 will subtract from 124, so we will place a 
“1" in the 64 column. 124-6460 right. We will always 
work with the remainder. 32 will subtract from 60 so 


put a "i" in the 32 column. 60-32=28. 16 will sub- 
tract from 28, a “1" goes in th 16 column, 28-16=12, 
& will subtract from 12. a in the 8 column, 
12-8-4. 4 will subtract from 4, a “i” mothe 4 
column, 4-490, that means all the rest get a “O". Our 
8 digit binary number for decimal 124 will look like 


this: "011111100". Lets try another like 174. Work it 
out by yourself, The answer should be 10101110" 
binary. Easy...right?! 

Now lets go the other way; that 
Take an 8 digit binary number 
Take only the columns that have @ “i" and 

‘a of 2 up. "00100003" the 1 column has a 
\@ the 32 column has a "1", so 3241 Le: 
"10101011". The 1 has a "1", 2 has a 

‘1 32 has a “1i" and 128 has a "1 
Meotaaiader ai, Try this one; 


is, to convert 


binary to decimal, 
"00100001" 


"01100110". If your 
answer is 102, then you've got it down, if not, work 
with your grid until you do get it. 

Now, the reason for all of this, is that your 


1/0 ports are a representation of an 8 digit binary 
number. To work with them you will have to understand 
at least this much about binary numbers. .lets go! 

Plug your demo/test board output circuitry inte 
the output port. Be sure you have the two wire jumper 
for +5 volte and GND plugged in. (Note: If you are 
using your own supply you MUST NOT connect the TS +5 
volt and your own +5 volt supplies together. You MUST 
connect the GNDs together). 

The four address ranges of your ports in decimal 
and in ($hex) are: 


DECIMAL/($HEX? TO DECIMAL/<SHEX) 
PORT #1 8292/2000) 102397 ($27FF> 
PORT #2 102407 ($2800) 12287/ ($2FFF> 
PORT #3. 12288/ ($3000) 143357 ($37FF> 
PORT #4 143367 ($3800) 163837 ($3RFF> 
Pick the port you want to use, then pick an 


address in the port range, that is easy for you to 
remember. I*use 10000 for port #1, 12222 for port #2, 
13333 for port #3, and 14444 for port #4. You have 
2047 addresses in each range to choose from. 

Lets go ahead and use Port #1 for our demo port. 
If you want to use another, go for it, but remember 
to change the addressed POKES and PEEKS to match the 
port chosen. 


25 


If you have everything hooked up, turn the power 
on. You might have one or more random LEDs on, but 
that's ok. First enter POKE 10000,0. That should turn 
all the LEDs off. Next enter POKE 10000,255 that 
should turn al! the LEDs on. Next lets make a little 
program: 


10 INPUT X 
20 POKE 10000,X 
30 GOTO 10 


Lets input 3 firet. LEDs 1 and 2 should turn on 
(remember we are going from right to left, not left 
to right), atl others should be off. Now try 8. 
Number 4 should be on. and all others should be off. 
If you get anything else. then you probably have your 
data lines mixed up. Data lines are DO thru D7. To 
check, POKE 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, and 128 in 
sequence. Note the order that the LEDs turn on. 
Remove the board and rearrange the wiring to the out- 
put port connector properly. Plug th board back in 
and rerun the program and the sequence of the powers 
of 2. You will notice that the LEDs look just like an 
6 digit binary number, with “LED on” representing “1” 
and "LED off" representing "0". After you get the 
quence right, lets run another little program: 


POKE 10000,0 
PAUSE 30 
LET A=1 

FOR §=1 TO 7 
POKE 10000,A 
LET A=Ax2 
PAUSE S 

WEXT W 


LET A=128 
FOR W=i TO 7 
POKE 10000,A 
LET A=A/2 
PAUSE 5 
BEXT 

GOTO 40 


Tf_ you want to decrease the speed increase the 
pause. To increase the speed, decrease the pause. 
For the maximum speed without machine code, add the 
line: 


5 FAST 


Now for the input test/demo. Lets use the same 
port. When I PEEK an address, I always use the first 
address in port range. For Port #1 that would be 8192 
decimal. Hook a cable from the decoder/port board 
input connector to the test/demo board input 
connector. Turn all the switches “off”, then enter 
PRINT PEEK 6192. The display should read "255". Now 
turn all the switches "on". The display should read 


"0". If you do not get these results, then run this 
program: 

10 SCROLL 

20 PAUSE 30 

30 PRINT PEEK 8192 

40 GOTO 10 

Now set the sequence of powers of 2 using the 

switches. If you noticed a switch “off" = "1", anda 
switch “on" - “o", run the program. Turn all 
switches "on". The display should be scrolling a 
Turn switch 1 “off" and leave all others on. The 


display should now scroll a “1 
turn only 2 “off". A "2" should appear. Turn 2 back 
“on” and turn only 3 "off". "Gent inue thru the 
sequence of turning all the switches “on and turning 
one switch back "off" in order, from right to left. 
you should get increasing powers of 2 displayed on the 
screen. The power of 2 displayed should match the 
switch that is “off" (i.e., “off” should 
display “16“, switch 8 “off” would display "128", 
etc.). 

Again note the sequence. If it is mixed up, 
unplug the decoder port board and rearrange the 
wiring properly to the input connector on the decoder 


+ Turn 1 back “on” and 


board, Once you get everything squared away, here is 
our last little demo program. Plug both the input and 
output connectors into the decoder port board. Just 
for kicks, we will change our port select switch to 
Port #2. Here is the program: 


10 POKE 12222,0 

20 PAUSE 30 

30 LET A=PEEK 10240 
40 POKE 12222,A 

50 GOTO 30 


Now you will note that for any switch that is 
“oft" on the input port, there will be the cor- 
responding LED “on” for the output port. 

These programs and demo. should give you some- 
thing to play with until the next issue of TIME 
DESIGNS, when we will explore different types of 
output driver cards and applications. Have Fun! 


To [nPvT Post To ovTPUT PoRT 


(Bi [eaccsaos codccoca 


TEST/DEMO 
(AND OPTIONAL POWER SUPPLY) 225" 
COMPONENT DIAGRAM 


2200 UF 
25 VDC 


setts 


2200 UF 
25 VDC 


baaesy 


MAIN DECODER AND I/O BOARD CIRCUIT | 


Mioe 


OUTPUT PORT 


enogoogcoo 


Be sue To Tic 
Geeum> PINs 86985 
Toacrnen 


e& 


EER EB RE 


; 
a 
K 


IC 


“py se 


MAIN DECODER COMPONENT DIAGRAM 


TO DEtcope 
ovipur ¢_b7 
PoaT 


OUTPUT TEST/DEMO 
CIRCUIT 


Te D&cooeR 
1NeUT 


INPUT TEST/DEM 
CIRCUIT 


Sw 1-8 


(9 1983 
A. Rodriquez 


Player Takes "O” 
Computer Takes “X" 
Player Gets First Move 


Copyright (<) 1983. 
Albert F, Rodriquez 


PROFILE 
$12.00 In cassette (domestic) 
$14.00 (foreign) 
With documentation 


For: 2X81, TS1000, TS1500 ROMWRAM: 8H/16K 
Written In: Sinclair BASIC Program Listable: No 


listings Available: 
Yes, $6.20 (domestic)/$7.20 (foreign) with documentation 
Syntactic Sum: 433, 255 


Price: 


This program was written to be both entertaining 
‘and educational to its user. 


There are about 457 variations of this game that 
can be played, given how the program is written. 

The computer plays an optimal game. It goes fora 
win when it can or it attempts to prevent from losing 
by yielding a draw. The challenge for the player is, of 
course, in trying to beat the computer or in not letting 
it beat him/her by forcing a draw. 

The player Is always allowed the first move; thereby, 
giving him/her five moves versus the four moves al- 
lowed the computer. The player and computer are pre- 
assigned the characters “O” and "X", respectively, in 
inverse video. 

The program Is self-running. Within the Program are 
instructions for exiting and re-entering the game (2.9. 
to exit press BREAK during execution; to enter key In 
GOTO 7). Never should the player enter either RUN 
or CLEAR; for this will erase all data pre-programmed 
into the variable store. If this should occur, reloading 
the program from cassette is necessary. 

There are three distinct features of this Program 
that make it very “user-friendly”. 


First, If the player makes a move with any type of 
data other than the single numbers 1 through 9, he/she 
will receive a prompt message that says: FALSE MOVE; 
TRY AGAIN. 

Second, if during the course of a particular game a 
player makes a move already taken by either himself/ 
herself or the computer, then, a prompt message will 
appear that says: REPEAT; TRY AGAIN. 

Both of the above prompts appear for about two 
seconds, self-erase and then allow for a new move to 
be entered, 

Third, in the event that the game ends either Ina 
WIN or a DRAW, a prompt message Is displayed inform- 
ing the player of either outcome. In the case of a WIN 
an extra nicety is added: a thick, black line crossing 
through the row, column or diagonal in which three 
characters of the same kind appear. 7 

When a game comes to an end the final outcome 
Is displayed for about fifteen seconds, then the pro- 
gram loops back to the beginning and sets itself up 
for a new game. 

Listings of the program are available fora sald price, 
but without the necessary data pre-incorporated into 
the variable store it is non-functional. There is certain 
Information that was put into the program via the 
immediate, input mode which Is essential for the 
proper execution of this program. 

Ai complete listing of the program, its arrays/vari- 
ables and their respective values are for sale and may 
be bought for a very reasonable price. Along with this 
information the buyer will receive detailed documento- 
tlon about how this program was made as a precise 
and interesting computer game that is fun to play and, 
hopefully, a worthwhile tutorial in computer program- 
ming. 

IF bought in cassette the above documentation 
comes with it, but the program is not listable on the 
screen. This was done to prevent any “bugs” from 
sneaking Into the program inadvertantly that might 
cause the program not to execute properly. Thereby, 
this should allow the buyer to have full satisfaction 
about what he/she Is buying for his/her money. 


A.F.R. SOFTWARE 
1605 Pennsylvania five./No. 204 
Miami Beach, fl 33139 U.S.A. 
(305) 531-6464 
Aloridians add Sales Tox Dealer Inquiries Welcome. 
£9 (0) 770 


1~800-962~1968 
EXT. 122 
24 HOUR ORDER LINE, 


ALPHACOM 32 PRINTER 


TIMEX/SINCLAIR SPECIALS 


WMJ DATA SYSTEMS 
SUPPORTING T/S 
SINCE 1983 


TS1000 SPECIALS 


(#ALPHA) $35.00 
ORIGINALLY SOLD FOR $69.9 


PRINTER I8 100% COMPATIBLE WITH THE 


2X81, T81000, T8iS00 AND 
ONE ROLL OF THERMAL PAPER 
EXTRA PAPER 3 ROLLS/#6.00 


LTEM # 
TS1FAST 
TS1FOR 
TS1R0C 


S. THIS ZXLRB FASTLOAD 

FORTY NINER GAME 
ROCKET MAN GAME 
TS1ZXT Z=-XTRICATOR GAME 


TSiKEY NEW KEY & UTILITY 


TS2066. 
SUPPLIED. 
C#THERM) 


$10.95 
6.00 
6.00 
6,00 
6,00 


PRO/FILE 2068 

TS2068 (#TSZPF) 19,95 
THIS PROGRAM WRITTEN BY THOMAS WOODS 
18 ONE OF THE MOST USEFUL PROGRAMS 
YOU WILL EVER OWN. PRO/FILE 2068 
LETS YOU MAINTAIN INFORMATION IN ANY 
FORM YOU DESIRE. YOU CAN DO MULTI- 
WORD SEARCHES AND HAVE THE FILES 
ON THE SCREEN OR PRINTED OUT IN A 
MATTER OF SECONDS. THE BEST PART OF 
THE PRO/FILE 2068 IS PROBABLY THE 
144 PAGE MANUAL WHICH EXPLAINS THE 
MANY USES OF PRO/FILE 2068 AS WELL 
AS THE PROGRAMMING BEHIND IT. WORKS 
ON THE TS2068 AND CAN BE USED WITH 
ANY PRINTER. 


2X PRO/FILE 
TS1000 (#TS1PF) $16.95 
A MACHINE LANGUAGE INFORMATION 
STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL TOOL FOR 16K 
TO 64K. WRITTEN BY THOMAS WOODS. 
MULTI-WORD SEARCH CAPABILITY, 
INSTANT FILE ACCESS, ORDERED 
DISPLAYS, DEFINABLE PRINTOUTS, FLEX. 
FILE SIZE, S93 PAGE TUTORIAL MANUAL, 
THIS IS THE FINEST DATA BASE PROGRAM 
WRITTEN FOR THE TS1000, TS1500, AND 
SINCLAIR ZX81. 


ACZ GENERAL LEDGER 

TSi000 ¢C#ACZ1) $16.95 

TS2068 (#ACZ2) $19.95 
AN ACCOUNTING SYSTEM DESIGNED FOR 
TRE SMALL BUSINESS. THE ACZ GENERAL 
LEDGER IS FLEXIBLY DESIGNED SO THE 
REPORTS FIT YOUR BUSINESS. INCLUDES 
A COMPREHENSIVE MANUAL THAT WILL 
HAVE YOUR BOOKS COMPUTERIZED IN A 
SHORT TIME. THE ACZ GENERAL LEDGER 
18 DESIGNED FOR USE WITH THE TS2040 
OR ALPHACOM 32 PRINTER. 


CALL OR WRITE FOR FREE CATALOG 


1-800-362-1988 EXT. 122 


VARIOUS TIMEX BRAND TITLES ONLY 3,00 
(CALL 516-543-5252 FOR SELECTION) 


TS2068 SPECIALS 


CRAZY BUG * 
HOME IMPROVEMENT PLNR 
CASINO I 

SPELLING II 

CIRCUIT SCRAMBLER GAME 
SPELLING 1 

STATES & CAPITALS 
BUDGETER 

WORD PLAY IT 

DEALER'S POKER DEN 
FIGHTER PILOT 

NIGHT GUNNER 

TOMAHAWK 


eo2oo0000go 


DOUGOKBUH 
eoco0o00o0o 


BOOKS AND ACCESSORIES 


POWERFUL PROJECTS 

182068 BEG/INT GUIDE 
TS2068 INT/ADV GUIDE 
EPYX 500xJ JOYSTICK 


@ 4.00 
4,00 
4,00 
15.40 


WINKY BOARD 2000 
(#TSWINKY) $19.95 
SOLVES MOST LOADING PROBLEMS, ENABLES 
YOU TO LOAD DIFFICULT TAPES WITH EASE 
DUPLICATES TS/ZX CASSETTE TAPES FOR 
BACK-UP COPY. SAVE/DUPLICATE AT THE 
SAME TIME USING 2 RECORDERS. WORKS 
WITH TS1000/1500, ZX81,SPECTRUM, TS2068 


1-800-962-1988 EXT. 122 ORDERS ONLY. 
PLEASE USE ITEM # WHEN ORDERING. 
MASTERCARD * VISA * COD ORDERS 
ADD $3.00 SHIPPING IN U.S. 
ADD $8.00 SHIPPING IN CANADA, MEXICO 
NO DELAY ON CHECKS. 
CALL 516-549-5252 1PM-SPM MON-FRI FOR 
ORDERS AND QUESTIONS. 
MAIL ORDERS TO: 
WMJ DATA SYSTEMS~TD 
4 BUTTERFLY DRIVE 
HAUPPAUGE, NY 11788 


TS2068 SOFTWARE REVIEW 


FIRST CLASS FONTS II 


Reviewed by D. 


A lot of nice words have been written about BYTE 
POWER and their software(magazins) on cai 
for the Timex Sinclair 2068 computer. BYTE 
actually two brothers, Eric and Kristian Boisvert, 
who reside near Toronto, Ontario. If the Timex com- 
puter were still produced today, these gents would be 
Very rich. Now, at best, every faithful 2068 user 
who has stuck it out should be buying their software. 
It's that good. 

When the BYTE POWER duo started cut a few years 
ago, they announced that their cassette magazine 
would be “published" on a monthly basis. Considering 
that each tape contained at least ten good programs, 
thie monthly goal seemed to be a monumental task. I 
remember at the time thinking, “how are they going to 
do this?". There just isn't enough hours in a day to 
throw that much code! Well, they did manage to keep 
it up for a while, then deadlines began to slip. 

Currently, BYTE POWER has gone to a quarterly 
format. I applaud this move for a couple of reasons. 
First of all. it will take the unrealistic deadline 
pressure off. A direct result of this has been 
noticeable improvements in the programs. Each "issue" 
gets better and better. And another result has 
allowed the programming team to develop larger full 
blown individual software packages outside of the 


regular cassette magazine. lst CLASS FONTS II is one 


of these new programs. 


Figure 1. Actual Screens from ist Class Fonts If 


ty 
Bite ote 


mse 
Space 


eieaanepe gee 


Hilaneparstuvanre dls befits 


TYPE CURSOR 
NORH NORMAL, 


Hutchinson 
When Tim (Editor of TDM) sent me a copy of ist 
in the mail for review,I knew right 
away that I was in for a treat. software comes 


packaged in a viny! album. There a: 
tapes and a professionally printed user guide, which 
is quite clear and "to the poin a rare commodity 
in the T3 market. Actually (and the manual encourages 
it), documentation isn't really needed to get started 
with this program. Ideally, a program should stand 
alone without ever having to crack a manual. This is 
my “acid test” for any program that claims to be 
“user friendly". FONTS has come very close to 
achieving this, thanks to an operating system that is 
frequently seen in other BYTE POWER programs...sort 
of a “trademark” (more on this in a minute), 

Il's main program has three 
basic parts: 1. A library of “fonts" (or type 
styles). 28 different fonts are included in the main 
program. 2. A simple word processor (“what-you-see~ 
is~what-you~get" type). 3. A "Definer", that allows 
the user to modify or change any character within one 
of the font sets. 

To move around the program, a joystick is highly 
recommended by this reviewer, although using the key~ 
board is acceptable. If you haven't used one of t 
BYTE POWER programs that have similar "pop-down' 
menus as the FONTS package does, you may miss out on 
witnessing how powerful your 2068 can be. It works 
just like a mouse does on (gulp) the more expensive 
MACINTOSH computer, A little arrow icon is moved 
around the screen, and when the arrow is placed over 
a box or any command line, that box or line ia high- 
lighted by another color, and when the fire button is 
pressed, it automatically executes the function, or 
another menu box is superimposed over the previous 
menu. It's fast and smooth. Folk’s this is as close 
as your 2066 will get to a MAC! 

How do you use FONTS? Two ways actually. One 
quick way ig via the built-in wordprocessor which 
allows the user to switch styles and experiment with 
several within the text workspace, and then print out 
with the T3-2040 printer. The other way, is to use a 
font character set within one of your own programs. 
This is the one time the user manual will need to be 
consulted, as it shows how to POKE the new character 
set's address in memory. 

On the other cassette that is supplied, there is 
a 64 column print utility, a double-height print 
utility, a giant "Old English" font, and a scrolling 
font demonstration program. 

There are some features that I feel should have 
been included in FONTS. Firet of all, the program is 
“unlistable", and for the average 2068 user, it is 
unbreakable". This is unfortunate. as I waa unable to 
modify the LOAD and SAVE routines for my disk drive 
system. I also felt that a full-size printer driver 
should have b included in the wordprocessor for 
the AERCO printer interface. Many 2068 users no 
longer make use of the 2040 thermal printer, My final 
suggestion is only a minor one. It would have been 
Nice to LOAD another whole library of 28 fonts into 
the main program. Only single font sets can be loaded 
in one at a time, replacing current ones. 

Setting aside minor quibblings, I liked this 
software package. It represents fine value, with all 
of the extra trimmings that are included. Why not add 
it to your 2068 collection? It just might be what 
your looking for to “dress up" your text and 
programs. 

I should algo mention that FONTS will run on a 
Spectrum, and it is also reported that font sets in 
this package will work with PIXEL PRINT (Stan Lemke), 
but I haven't personally tested thia. 

PRICE: $19.95 + $3 S/H. FROM: Byte Power, 1748 
dowview Ave., Pickering. Ontario, Canada, LiV-368. 


two cassette 


QODIES 


Stan Lemke 


Here are a couple of little GRAPHIC GOODIES that won't take hours 
to type in, but demonstrate some neat graphic capbilities on the TS2068! 
BLINK uses the 2068's dual display mode to switch quickly between two 
pictures to make it appear as if part of the picture is blinking. The 
PAUSE in Line 800 varies as the counter "I" changes...so the drawing 
blinks slowly at first, and then speeds up. The length of the BEEP also 
changes to augment the effect. Just type it in, SAVE with RUN 900, and 
start the program with RUN(ENTER) . 

BOUNCE is a little simpler. The idea here is to place a picture on 
the screen, and have it move smoothly left/right a pixel at a time, 
creating the appearance of bouncing back and forth. Type the program in. 
SAVE with RUN 650, and start it with RUN(ENTER). 


200 REN Kesaeseeesteresesetesen 


OO REM seapeeeesesesonseatasee 


eLrKK BOUNCE 
, Seedter “Graphics Googies” 
Graphics coosie 0 "B5°PPLE PESELEF Lone 


Lemke Software D 
2144 Unite 
wichita, Ks 


y 

Lemke software Development 
Qid4 Unite Oar 

Wichita, KS. 67207 


SEREEESOASED ERE SERRA EERE EES ASED FREPASHEEHERP SSSR ESSE ESE ROGGE EES 


e000 


& 


pusaomeans? 


oo 


o 
G1 OF Ore, 


NEW SOFTWARE FOR YOUR 152068 
ipplied On Cassette) 


BATTLESTAR XEMIT(9x): 


Defend the fleet against suicide attack fighters 
of the Denebola System! Nine levels of play 
where skill & tactics determine success and 
survival. User Defined Graphics with special 
color & sound effects in a fast~action arenal 


Sees 1 sie te START ~REK(I6«): 

25 & Pace a conglomeration from the series, films, 
es3 $3 rf & books with UDG's & sound effects. YOU are 
300 27 2 the Captain as The Ship is confronted with 
nt various scenarios which you must resolve. 
450 $6 Bi Ten Screens: Seven Levels of play; No two 
$09 33 é sessions alike! Use the ‘Kirk Alternative! 
14 eae! 7 as you command Phasors, Photon ‘Torpedoes, 
geo} $3 4 Warp Drive, Impulse Power, Sheilds, etc. 
zoo + 99 a 

ges: Boe if SEND $9 FOR EACH TO: 

te a 


VP HOSEY: Box 135-Rep Rock -TX-78662 


PAUL BINGHAM EVALUATES THE 7988 


IS THE NEW COMPUTER TOO MUCH OF A BREAK FROM TRADITION? 


Some grumbling a to whether the new 266 laptop unit from Sears, Timex threw in the towel. Ever wonder 
computer should be included in the “Sinclair family” what would have happened if they had stuck by it? After 
have fallen on my ears and perhaps yours. It has a new all, the Spectrum with 128K and a built-in disk drive 
operating system. including of all things, BBC BASIC, is still in production ond selling in merry old 
and it does not load ZX81, 2068 or QL software. So has England. Well, Sinclair users circled the wagone. 
Sir Clive invented too much of a maverick? a look Third-party producers kept giving us the peripherals we 
backward may be the best way to answer this. needed. And in late 1985, after months of rumors, the 

As a card-carrying pack rat I am privy te QL wae unveiled. But it wasn't really a grown up 
something many are denied: history. In perusing through Spectrum: it was something brand new. We bought them 
ali the old SYNC, E. Arthur Brown catalogs, and other here, but not like they did in Europe. Then the 
innumerable goodies I have hung on to all these years, flat-screen TV and electric car bills caught up with 
I was able to see Sinclair's U.S. history. I thumbed Uncle Clive. And in the Summer of 1986. he saved the 
through all the old ads from 1983 and found just what family by selling the farm. The new owner said, 
was being offered for the ZX81 and TS1000. 64K add-ons “Spectrum: yes, QL: no.” 
were hot. A system called “Basicare" even offered a Now, after three years since the QL was released 
bank-switching add-on and 64K modules for up to 1 Mega— Sinclair's team (renamed “Cambridge” after the place 
byte (Mb) of RAM (for big bucks). Memotech had some they've always been) show us what they've been working 
software on EPROM: just plug in and go! But the hottest on: the 268. But the remaining Sinclair users are older 
upgrades were KEYBOARDS. I’ve charted average prices on and wiser now. Some healthy skepticism requires we take 
peripherals for each machine (within the firat six @ careful look before we buy. Upon close examination we 
months of release for most things) in Figure B. find somo interestingly familiar Sinclair touches. The 

As 1984 began. so did the excitement over the new unit is small, definitely from up Sir Clive’s alley. 
arrival: Sir Clive's Spectrum reworked and expanded ag After calculators, watches, ZX80s and Sis, he's back to 
the TS2068. And just ag everyone was ordering their home turf. And this time there's actually a category in 


(716) 834-1716 


(716) 834-1716 


IS 4 HIGHLY SOPHISTICATED 
COMPUTERTZED MAGAZINE ON CASSETTE FOR 
aoWer, THE TS€W68 ano SINCLAIR SPECTRUM. aK, 


No LONGER WILL YOU HAVE TO TYPE _IN LONG, 
FasTICIOUS PROGRAMS... JUST LoaD AND RUN! 


BYTE POWER rs THe ULTIMATE macazine, over 118 
PROGRAMS HERE PUBLISHED UP TO NOH, MosT OF THESE 
ARE IN FAST MACHINE CODE! AND WE BRING YOU THIS 
QUALITY PROGRAMHING AT A VERY SMALL COST! 


Come: 
HIGH ou fry 


Issues AVAILABLE... (4S oF JULY 1938) 


Aus 86, $ 86, Oct &6, Nov 6, Dec/Jan_87, 
fee 87, Spnine 87, Face 87. Fee’ BS. Mav ee 


ALSO AVAILABLE FROM BYTE PONER. 


ONTS IT..... 
THE D.U.S. Ve. (For LKOOS caar.), 
EtFAST (Fast Load For TSEWES). 1.005 


BEST OF ARCADE GAMES... we 
BEST OF STRATEGY AND BOARD G4€s,. 
BEST OF BUSINESS AND UTILITIES..... 


THemmagacineW oretnie 1Sc000) 


seit ween bas 
R300 FOMDEMOTCAT ATO! 


$19,95 (US) 
+ $3.08 S/H 


te 
Presse ano $3.88 peR soFTWARE FOR SHIPPING. Yeh, ontario 


SENO 
OUR COMPLETE Near 
ALL PRICES IN U.S. FUNDS ONLY PLEASE. PACKAGE. LAV 3G8 


BYTE POWER Hagazine »* JUST LORD AND RUM! 44 


computerdom for his latest invention called “laptops”. 
It is distinctively Sinclair black. It has a water- 
resistant keyboard, too. All the keys are normal enough 
but each is connected underneath by a rubber membranes 
to repel fluids. Is there o Serial Port? You bet. And a 
rear edge connector? Yes, but it is on the side this 
time. Is there an on/off switch? Well, no switch, but 
pressing both SHIFT keys at the same time turns it on. 
Figure A details more Sinclair machine comparisons. 

The 288 has sound, but harking back to the days of 
the ZX81 and TS1000, there are only four chips. One is 
@ whopping 128K ROM chip that holds the operating 
syatem and five built-in programs. Another is the 32K 
RAM which would have made TS1000 owners drool. but is 
limiting now ae their 2K RAM was back then. The user 
can easily upgrade this computer to an amazing 3Mba 
providing he can afford it (for more on that Figure 
C). The third chip is a custom gate array made by NEC. 
But the fourth and final chip is what really proves Sir 
Clive came home: the 280 CPU. All of his computers have 
had a Z80 with the exception of the QL (which 
implemented the fundamentally different 68000 CPU 
chip). The Z80 is the "Cadillac" among 6-bit CPUs. This 
280 is a special CMOS type. meaning it is very low 
Power consumptive, but otherwise uses the same machine 
code all Sinclair hackers are accustomed to. The Z88 
even has a built~in assembler for us! And somehow Sir 
Clive has managed to make the four chip 268 computer 
plenty fast. I've been impressed by its speed and also 
its ability to jump mid-stream from one program to 
another, call up menus with a key press and then return 
without a hitch. The 288 does act in some ways 1ike 
the QL, too. 

The 288 has many of the good features from his 
previous machines. And it has a few new surprises as 
well, The built-in (no-need-to-load) programs are very 
good. The word processor trounces the QUILL program the 
QL come with. And as a previously dedicated “Day-Timer” 
deiiy schedule book user, I am particularly pleased 
with the calendar feature. It will automatically 
transfer today's task to tomorrow's list of things to 
do if you haven't completed it, The choice to go with 
what amounts to RAM disk technology instead of floppies 
or microdrives for storage will raise some eyebrows. 
But certainly a whole range of disk and even cassette 
based storage options are coming. The Z88 will change 
the way we think about programs. No LOADing or long 
SAVEs are required. Software plugs in instantly, and 
programs wo are working on will stay unharmed in tho 
machine for a year. With an EPROM burner built in to 
every machine, every user is a potential EPROM-based 
software writer, too! 

What does the 288's future look like? I don’t know 
for sure, but I think the signs are more encouraging 
for us this time around. For one thing, Sir Clive's big 
debts were paid in the Amstrad sale. For another this 


machine has no “U.S. TV hook-up" problems all his 
previous machines have had to overcome. The special 
U.S. software, U.S. ROMS and U.S. modulator circuitry 


always required before are unneeded: wo all have the 
same screens! So most all of Europe's 286 software will 
work and vice versa. Ditto for hardware. That brings me 
to my next point: even though Sinclair was forced into 
selling hia BASIC. isn't it conceivable that even a 
one-key entry of BASIC utility (on EPROM of course) 
might how up to make programming like I'm most at home 
with? Could be. 

Talking with dealers is also enlightening. Sir 
Chive has very little marketing of the new machine 
going on in the U.S. as of yet. He's pushing it at 
home, presumably to get it going strong overseas. If we 
were seeing the big magazine ads and slick-paper 
mailings we received with his previous machines, I'd be 
worried. Perhaps he has learned some austerity in the 
last few years. They are also holding the line on 
prices, They are determined that the mad fury of 
gas-war style price cutting that derailed the 751000 
will not sink the 288, too. We are also seeing Clive 
promote the machine hims. This is not to save money 
on sates help, but I believe the man for the first time 
in a long time is truly proud of a creation. And 


rightly so. The Z88 belongs in the "Sinclair Family". 


Figure C. zea: 
MEMORY 1.31 
UPGRADE'S: 1.34 
COST PER 277 
BYTE: a8 


SINCLAIR COMPUTERS SPECS: 


Pigure A. 11500: @ 268: 
CPU 2801 280A BOA 68008 _Z80A(CHO) 
FOOTPRINT i O'x§. 6" 14-8°x7.8" 18.6°KS.4" 11.4 x8." 
UNIT THICKNESS ty 1.2" 3" 8 
ee 45 cu ins 63 cu ins 136 cu ins 16" ae ins 65 cu iF 
WEIG! 12 of hs, 
REVBOARD SIZE 8.0"x1, 9" 1.2"x3." 
NUMBER OF KEYS 40 64 
SPACE KEY LEN 43" 5.2" 
INITIAL MEMORY | 2K 32K 
MAX (UNALTERED) 64K 3M 
ROM PORTS ° 3 
SERIAL PORTS ° 1 
JOYSTICK PORTS 0 ° 
WONITOR OUTPUT = N 
TY OUTPUT ¥ és 
SCREEN PIXELS 2616 46960 
NO. CHARACTERS 704 1408 2000 848 

SVAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARAAS 

SINCLAIR COMPUTERS AND PERIPHERALS: 
Figure B. 2X81/TS1000: T5206 a 


COMPUTER 
BUNDLED SW INCL 
RAM 


CONTR & 1 DDRIVE 
EPROM BASED SH 
EPROM PROG CIRCUIT 
MODEM COMPLETE 
PAR PRINT I.F. 


THIS POWERFUL... 


8 the ment potable fulbfuncinm computer ever 
one 
© Less than an eich thea measutes HS 99 WN 
Weighs ander 21 
with micgaied st of powerful 
re wuied- proweing. spreadsheet, 
diary, salenalat, Goh, ala 
‘staged in ROM. 
and maeiplate data team HNL 


Shakospea 


app 
Yinles Mac apt 


ST. QU binkups as 
© Lar nes cure wate, ethane 

Suntly 2s square \ eam deer No fragile 
Enka no bulbs dak deve 


Z88 SOFTWARE IN ACTION 


The ZAN'S ingeniows Renllun wukware state fees vow switch ae tues 

applacations — even wend proweung and spreadsheet witht loading 
Ue computer's memos 

ng a letter to fund go address, . from vomponeng a 

move w spreadbeet intoa document 


on wr 
yingouta calculation 
Hess a counve of keys 


22K of RAM built im expandable 1 J oxgabates 
‘cough tw botd the voumplete works of 


1 Peemaneot storage os EPROM (Eravibie Pogram: 
inabicRead Oly Memory pahs.ssaitalicia 82K 
and LISK 1 mepayie pucks comeng soon 


pr Tul eratah dinplay provisos 
area of 8 Hines «NO characters. 


es congo ts sintaatly any 


Sannland pean 
© QWEREY kestonand hay wen tortrasct keys 
the In Mioctings, beter. ane here 


# Runs on foar AA hattencs, Balin capacitor 
peecties daa when Ratories me to he changed. 


258 Sioclair Computer $479.98 
‘68008 Sinclair QL $149.95 
Catt wee fe other 28 pada 
SHARP'S Inc. 

fo Me 

Atoase suite WN 211 

(0804) 730.9657 Yam «pes 


One of the many powers lurking within the QL ie the 
ease of extending SuperBASIC. The simplest means of 
doing this ia by defining PROCedures or FuNctiona within 
a SuperBASIC program. The newly defined PROCedure or 
FuNction is then treated as a SuperBASIC keyword (i 
PRINT, MODE, SAVE, CODE, etc.). A more sophisticated and 
global approach is to “link” the new PROCedure or 
FuNction to the system's resident memory. In other 
words, create a semi-permanent extension to SuperBASIC. 
With this method, any linked keyword is available no 
matter what program is residing in the computer. As long 
as another PROCedure or FuNction is not DEFined with an 
identical name and the computer ie not reset, these 
keywords are available for use by any program, or by 
direct command. 

Let's take a few seconds and review the difference 
between a PROCedure and a FuNction. Simply put. a 
PROCedure will proform a task and a FuNction will return 


@ value or alter a variable. (EXAMPLE: CLS is a 
PROCedure and INKEY$ is a FuNction.) These guidelines 
are not strictly followed by QD0S however. It is even 
possible to redefine certain SuperBASIC keywords. The 


most recent DEFinition takes precedent over oarlier 
definitions. There are, however. certain keywords which 
QDOS will not redefins: 

END, FOR, IF, REPeat, SELect, WHEN ERRor, DEFine, 
FuNction, GO TO, GO SUB, WHEN EOF, INPUT, 
EXIT, ELSE, ON, RETurn, REMAINDER, DATA, 
THEN, STEP, REMark, and MISTake 


If one is 


PROCedue, 
RESTORE, NEXT, 
DIM, Local, LET, 


writing a SuperBASIC program in its 
proper fashion (i » modules of PROCedures and 
PuNetions), it can very easy to loge one's bearings. 
Since a call to a PROCedure or FuNction is not indexed 
via a Line #. as in most BASICs, it would be helpful to 
have @ routine to provide a "map" of the SuperBASIC 
program. While we are at it, why not list the variables 


and arrays? That is precisely what the PROCedure we are 
going to write will do. VDUMP will provide a list of all 
variables and arrays, along with PROCedures and 
FuNctions. including the Line Number where the DEF~ 


inition took place. (See Table 1 for an example.) 

We will be using some of the lessons learned in 
past issues of TIME DESIGNS (March/April & May/June ‘88; 
“Mandelbrot--A Fractal World" parts Ir & Iv), 
specifically, the areas involving the System Variables 
BV_NTBAS and BV_NLBAS (Name Table and Name List) and the 
areas of memory they point to. Our PROCedure will scan 
through these areas of memory and report on what it 
finds. 

Let's examine the means for linking in PROCedures 
and FuNctions. QD0S provides us with a system utility to 
do just that, BP_INIT add PROCedures and FuNctions to 
SuperBASIC (vector $110). Upon entry the following 
registers must be set accordingly: 


ar start of PROCedure/FuNction list 
Ae usual SuperBASIC address of SuperBASIC variables 
Upon exit the fallowing registers are affected: 
pi preserved Ao prewerved 
D2 preserved at corrupted 
Ds corrupted a2 preserved 
as preserved 
a6 may be updated 1f more 
memory was required 
Errors: None 
The above utility will add the defined PROCedures and 


FuNctions to the QL’s system. The required format is ag 
follows: 


éc." procnum 
3 

$ for each PROCedure to be cr. 
' 

dc. proutine-# 
éc.b procien 
éc.b ‘proc_name’ 
' 

3 then at the end of the PROCedure list -- 
1 

dew & 

dc.w funcnun 


number of PROCedures to be added 


ed the following -- 


relative pointer to PROCedure routine 
length of the PROCedure name 
name of the PROCedure in ASCII 


number of FuNctions to be added 


33 


RESIDENT 
PROCEDURES 


Michael €E€. Carver 


+ for each Function to be created the following -- 
1 

de.w froutin 
dc.b fnien 
dc.b *fun_name* 


* lative pointer to FuNction routine 
length of the FuNction name 


name of the FuNction in ASCII 


1 then at the end of the Function list -- 
‘ 
dc.w @ 
Be advised if your PROCedure/FuNction names ore 


long (with an average of over 8 bytes), the values for 

“procnum" and “funcnum" should be calculated using the 
following formula: 

+ om 

r +7 

Any errors in the above format will more than 

likely cause a serious system crash. It is important 

that this format be followed closely. Even if you are 

only creating PROCedures (as in our example), the in- 

formation for FuNctions must be included, especially the 

O's following the list of both the PROCedures and 


Fut + 


FuNctions. (See Listing 2 - label “procs”.) 
We are now ready to add a semi-resident PROCedure 
to QD0S. (Ask anyone with an IBM or clone if they can 


pull off such a trick og easily as our beloved QL can!) 
vi will display (or print) a list of SuperBASIC 


variables, PROCedures, and FuNctions to any channel the 
user specifies, providing the channel is open. In order 
to redirect this information to a channel, other than 


the default channel (#1), a parameter declaring that 
channel must be passed to the PROCedure routine. This is 
accomplished by following the same format ag other 
SuperBASIC commands (i.e., "#" followed by the number of 
the channel). QD0S provides us with another of its 
wonderful system utilities to help us. 


vardump 


Whenever a PROCedure or FuNetion ig called, any 
parameters following the name are placed on the RI 
stack. The first parameter is on the bottom of the atack 
and pointed to by O(a6,al.1). Since the argument 
separators aro lost when one of the following utilitios 
is called, they must be checked or saved before the 
perametor is retrieved (see the first two lines at 
label "vardump"). The separators may include “# 
mie etc. The system utility vectors that can be 
used to retrieve parameters from the maths/RI stack are: 


CA_GTINT -- #112 ert word integers 
CA_GTFP -- @114 retrieve floating point numbers 
CA_GTSTR -- $116 retrieve strings 

CA_GTLIN -- 8118 retrieve long integers 


Upan Entry the following registers should be set 
atl 


top of maths stack 
pointer to first p. 
pointer to last pa: 
Exit the following registers are affected: 


according!» 


a1 corrupted ao corrupted 
42 corrupted a1 updated pointer top of 
a3." no, af parameters 22 corrupted ck 
44 corrupted a3 rved 
46 corrupted a4 ved 
Errors: as ved 


715 bad parameter 
-1?) error in expr 


After wo save the parameter separator, we use 
CA_GTINT to retrieve any possible parameter (i.e 
“VDUMP #3"). If there are no errors and only one par. 
meter was found, a check is carried out to see if 
parameter separator was "#" (see "assign"). A check is 
then carried out to verify that auch a channel is open 
and the internal channel ID is stored in a0. If no para- 
meter is found, the default channel #1 is assigned 
(default), (NOTE: Please refer to the discussion of 
channel ID's in the “Mandelbrot” Part IIE article; 
Plotter Source Code section “ink".) The lines in the 
VDUMP code labeled “assign, starting with  “move.i 
BV_CHBAS (a6),a2” through label "no_chan", is the method 
of ascertaining the correct internal channel ID number 
based on the SuperBASIC channel ID. 


The reat of the PROCedure is rather simple and 
straightforward. Most of the work performed by this 
PROCedure is similar to our machine code routine in the 
Mandelbrot program that searched the SuperBASIC 
variables area for the two variables assigned in BASIC. 
(See text and source code labeled “calc” along with 
Table 1 - Variable Types.) 

Let's now examine the various system utilities used 
by this PROCedure to print the information and messages. 
The first vector used is UT_MTEXT - $d0 - print message 


on channel. Upon entry, tho following registers must be 
set: 


ac. channel ID 
al. start of message 
Upon exit the following registers are attected: 
a1 corrupted as pr rved 
a2 corruptes corrup’ 
d3 corrupted az preserved 
a3 preserved 
Errors: Any error from I/O operations (see pages 19-20 
of the Concepts section of the QL User's Guide for a 
list of Error Codes). 

The message porated to by al ia gent to the 
specified channel. The correct format of the message 
poanted to by al is: 
dew mer length of message -- must be word lengt 
4c.b “message 
It is wise to ensure that the length of the message 
definition block end on a word boundary, since the CPU 
expects all addresses to begin on even addresses. (See 
Liating 2, label "line_mess".) 

Another means of printing to a channel ig by using 


the Trap #3 utility, IO_SSTRG ~ $07 - eend sequence of 
bytes to channel. Upon entry the following registers 
must be rot accordingly: 


¢Z.w number of bytes to send 
3.0 timeout 
a@.I 0 channel 1D 


4 


location of first byte to 


Upon exit the following registers are affected: 
di.w no. of bytes sent a® preserved 
42 al 1 past last byte sent 
a3 a2 preserves 
a3 pre: 


not complete 
invalid channel 1D 
drive full 


Thie trap will send ag many bytes as it can (which are 
pointed to by al) during the timeout specified. NOTE: 
Timeouts are similar to those used by SuperBASIC in such 
FuNctiona as INKEY$ (24) or INKEY$ (-1). 

VDUMP also uses another Trap #3 utility to send 
just one byte to s channel, 10_SBYTE - $05, Upon ontry 
set the following register: 


41.b byte ta be sent 
43.0 timeout, 
28.1 channel ID 

Upon exit the following registers are affected: 
41 corrupted aS preserved 
a2 al corrupted 
a3 a2 preserved 

as 
Errors: same as I0_SSTRG 


It is also possible to send a decims] number 
channel by using the utility vector UT_MINT - g$ce. 
ontry sot the following registers: 

di.a value to print 

20.1 channel ID 

Upon exit the following registers are affected 


to a 
Upon 


an corrupted ao Preserved 
d2 corrupted at corrupted 
a3 corrupted az corrupted 
az corrupted 
Errore: a11 possible 1/0 errors 


GETTING VDUMP INTO THE MACHINE 


Carefully key-in Listing 1 into your computer and 
save to cartridge or disk before running. I have in- 
cluded error checks in an attempt to catch any mistyped 
numbers which make up the machine code routine. After 
you have saved the program, simply RUN the SuporBASIC. 
It will POKE into memory the machine code and save 


USING VDUNP 


The easiest way to link-in our new PROCedure is to 
incorporate Listing 3 into your normal boot program (be 
sure to change Line numbers so as not to overwrite any 
lines already in your boot program). Once the QL has 
been “booted” with this new PROCedure, the simple 
command of "vdump" will list all variables. arrays, 
PROCedures or FuNctions to the default channel (#1). By 
pressing CTRL F5, the display to the screen can be 
halted. Pressing any key will reactivate the PROCedure. 
It is possible to send your "vdump" to a filo on a disk 
or cartridge by first opening a file (OPEN_NEW 47, 
mdvl_dump), and then using the command “vdump #7". Be 
sure to close the file when the PROCedure has returned 
the flashing cursor (CLOSE #7). You can also sond a list 
of your SuperBASiC variables, PROCedures and FuNctions 
to your printer. First, opon the serial port connected 
to your printer via (OPEN_SERIC, #7). The “c" insures 
that QDOS linefeeds (ASCII 10) are sent to your printer 
as carriage returns (ASCII 13). The command “vdump #7" 
will now send the listing to your printer. 

I hope that this PROCedure will be an aid in 
creating fantastic SuperBASIC programs and will provide 
another “open door" to exploring the POWER and 
VERSATILITY of the QL. Ali other less sophisticated 
computers BEWARE...we are taking the "Quantum Leap"! 

h 


SUGGESTIONS 


For the more adventurous souls, the next logical 
stop would be to alter the procedure to print out the 
values of the variables and the dimension data for the 
arrays. With this added feature to VDUMP (now called 
XDUMP), writing and debugging SuperBASIC programs will 
become less cf a chore. By placing XDUMP in a program 
line where you suspect some "bugs". a complete value 
listing of all the declared variables can be checked 
(i.@,, 2002 PRINT #5: “LINE #2002": XDUMP #5). 

For those who do not have the time or the in- 
clination, I will provide such embellishments on 
microdrive cartridge or floppy disk for an extra $2.50 
charge. I will also inciude QUILL files of this article 
along with all supporting programs and source code. To 
receive VDUMP and/or XDUMP (which will display variable 
values and array dimension information), send a check or 
money order for $7.50 (+ $2.50 for XDUMP) to: Michael 
E. Carver, 1016 N.E. Tillamook, Portland, OR 97212. or 
$4.00 (+ $2.50 for XDUMP) if you provide your own 
cartridge or disk. Please specify what format you wish 
(only microcartridge and 5 1/4" DS/DD disk available). 


LISTING 1 -- Machine Code Loader tor vdump 

19 REMark *2%% Program to Load ‘vaump' procedure 
20 REMark ###4 as machine code and wave to device 
32 REMark Ree 

40 REMark HEE 

seo 

60 checking 

38 devi 

88 into_machine 


7 


to_medtum 


SHARP’S INC. Co, ® 
BOX 326 “Ko 
MECHANICSVILLE, VA 23111 WY 


(804) 730-9697 
F hebnk rhb hk he ded heute 


SINCLAIR GL 
$10 OFF 


Fe Mk che kenk hrke he 
SPECIAL OFFER FOR TDM READERS ONLY 


$149.95 (+ $10 S&H) Regular Price 


LIMIT 2 PER O.GTOER 


itself to your specified device (i.e.. mdvi_, flpi_. 
etc.). NOTE: The command RESPR will not work if another 
job besides SuperBASIC is resident in the QL. 34 


lx 


O,. $139.95 (+ $10 S&H) With Coupon 


OFFER EXPIRES JANUARY 15, 1909 


My 
ee 
J 


AgCOOLOAS YO NOUMOO ID 


108 test 

118 

12@ DEFine PROCedure into_machine 

136 CLS: PRINT \\*POKEing cade inte memory. . .* 
146 asRESPR(332) 

138 ba 

166 REBTORE 1990 

178 REPeat 1cad_loop 

186 FOR xa@ To 28 

196 FOR yet To @ 


2187180 2 ~~ Source Code for Variable Dusp PROCedure Cvduep> 


titie "VvDUMP* 
Procedure to Dump Vartable 
Produced in SuperBASIC 


Procedur. and Functions 


written by Michael E. Carver 2/8/88 


2@8 READ number revised 2/15/60 
218 = POKE_W (b), number final revision 6/19/88 
22600 beb+2: IF b>mat33Z THEN EXIT load_iocp 


23¢ END FOR y 

248 READ nunber:. REMark ##* clear check sum 
288 END FOR x 

269 EXIT lead_ioop 

270 END REP 1aad_loop 

END DEFing into_machine 


DEFine PROCedure device 
evic: mavi_ 
PRINT “Default device 
PRINT “Change device t * y FADO THREE IGE HEE HEHGHEEEHEHHEEEHUHHEEEHEHEHGHHEHE 
INPUT “(PRESS Return to keep old device) “snendevices 


CTL FS will halt dispiay to screen 
To wend to printer open seric or ser2c to provide 
Carriage Return 


register use dS=end of name table 
aS=start of list table 
dé=holds name table data 
d4=type searching for 
ad=pointer in name table 


IF newdevicesc>"* THEN 4 LINEFEED equ soa ASCII cade tor Line Feed 
CLS: PRINT ‘Will save to “idevices vars equ #22 variable types 
END DEFine device ARRAY equ $23 array ty: 
PROC equ 804 Procedure type! 
DEF ine PROCedure test FUNC equ 825 Function typea 
CLS: PRINT "Testing new procedure. . .* ‘ 
DIM dummy (26) ‘ The following labels may be supported by your acsombier 
CALL a 1 
vdump BV.NTP = equ Bic offeet end of name table 
END DEFine test BV_NLBAS equ 828 offmet start of list table 
: ‘ BULNTBAS equ $18 offset start of name table 
DEFine PROCedure checking CHILENCH equ ze length of channel block 
CLS? PRINT "Checking DATA statements. . .°\\ BV_CHBAS equ 830 channel table 
RESTORE 1 BULCHP = equ e34 end of channel table 
FOR x=@ TO 20 BV_LRIP = equ #50 maths stack pointer 
counts: BPLINIT equ #11 add SuperBASIC Procedure 
FOR y=i To 8 UT_LMTEXT equ sao print message on channel 
READ number: countecount+number 1O_S8TRG equ 997 Send sequence of bytes ta channel 
END FOR y YO_SBYTE equ #@5 fend byte to channel 
READ check_sum UTLMINT equ ace fend decimal number to channel 
IF check_same>count CALGTINT equ #112 get parameters as word integer 
PRINT “ERROR -- Check Line # “FI! i 
STOP EEE LTCUT TELE TEE L Tet TTS TT TT TTT TTT TTT TTT Ts 
ELSE 1 
END FOR x $ Actual start of program ae loaded into machine 
PRINT "DATA checked -- OKAY* ¥ 
END DEFine checking ‘ 
: install = move.w BP_INIT, ao ink in procedure 
DEFine PROCedure to_medium dea procs,at 
PRINT \\"Ready “idevicess* Pri any key to Save. . .* ser tae 
REPeat loop se: 
AS=CHRS (ready) procs dew number of proce 
IF a@<>** THEN EXIT loop dc.W vardunp: relative locataion 
END REPeat loop dc.b 5, *VDUMP* procedure nane 
SBYTES devicesk' vardump_proc',a,332 dco @ end of proce 
tip ner iae calnedicn deen 8 number of functions 
78 t - dew 8 end of functions 


229 DEFine FuNction ready 
73@ Local x 

743 CMCODE( INKEY@(~1)) 
73 RETurn 

769 END DEFine ready vardump lea par_sep,ad mave parameter soparator 
778 + move.b 1(aé,a3.1), (a4) 

4888 DATA 12498, 272, 17402, 6, 26112, 20885, 1, 14, 79: move.w CA_STINT, as 


routine to check for parameter & type if not “H* report 
Parameter error 


1B18 DATA 1364, 17493, 19792,8,8,8, 16936, 3 ser (ae) 

1828 DATA 6326, -18431, 12498, 274, 20112, 19872, 26236, 3139,69136 tet. oo any errors? 

1838 DATA 1, 27958, 26372, 20913, 20085, 2868, 7, 26614, 132018 brewm exit quit 1¢ any 

1248 DATA 12342, -26624, 21678, 88, 9326, 48, - 16132, 49, 766 cmp.w #1443, one parameter? 
DATA -10816,-16962, 52, 27654, 8318, -22526, 24366, 26922,37218 default meter 
DATA 20885,6316, 1, 1,28672, 17482, 154, 13432, 88963 beq.s assign ign channel 1D 
DATA 208, 20114, 14396, 2, 24882, 17462, 152, 13432, 98501 bad_para = moveq #-15,4o incorrect parameters 
DATA 208, 20114, 14396, 3, 24866, 17492, 148, 13432, 99369 rts return with error report 
DATA 288, 28119, 14396, 4, 24858, 17482, 148, 13432, 90554 assign btet #7, (aa) was W" Used? 


DATA 286, 20114, 14396, 5, 24834, 20085, 17398, 28, 97969 beq.= bad_para 

DATA 18769, -9586, 17398, 32, 10833, -9266, 17398,24, 37586 move. 9(a6,01.1),69 get paramete: 

DATA 18321, -9778,-18412,26378, 24628, 8781 , ~11549,2,30372 addq.1 02, BV_RIP (a6) restore maths stack 
DATA - 19587, 28458, 5145, 39463, 26679, 28235, 3676,4, 96353 move.! BU_CHBAS(aé),a2 find start of channel 
DATA 27924, 17492, 9@8, 13432, 208, 28114, 12644,4, 92018. fusu #CH_LENCH, a definition black 
DATA 13432, 206, 29114, 29194, 38463, 28677, 20035, 20556, 162677 s, 


adda.! a 2 absolute addr 
DATA -17708, 27649, 20885, 12, 2646, 24996, 26977, 25196, 199922 cunel BV CHP (a6) paz 
DATA 25971, 14858, 18, 2625, 29298, 24953, 29498, 6282, 135415 boos no_chan not in table 
DATA 14, 264@,21971, 17253, 25717, 29205, 29496, 0202, 133609 moves! Slaé;a2.1),a9 new channel ID 


DATA 12, 2630,38030, 25468, 26991, 28275, 14858,9, 126265 
1288 DATA 8226, 19561, 28261,6227,8192,8,8,8,72465 


bra.m start 


35 


no_chan 


moveg W-6,d0 
cts 


jo¢ault 


S1BOS1, aS 


Vist all SuperBASIC variable: 


stare 


ws UT_MTEXT, a2 
jmr Caz) 

w MVARS, 44 
pointers 


least errey_mess,al 
mave.w UT_MTEXT, a2 
ser ta) 

w MARRAY, 44 
pointers 


list 211 SuperBasiC PROCedure: 


lea.t proc. 
mov: 


val 
W UTLMTEXT, a2 
ta2> 
 MPROC, 44 
pointers. 


liet all SuperBASIC FuNctions 


lea.t func mess,al 
move.w UT_NTEXT, a2 
jer (a2 


Ww RFUNC, 34 
pointers 


enter with 44 containing type 


osnters lea BV_NTP(aé),al 
move.1 (al),d5 
add.1 26,45 

lea BV_NLBAS(a),a1 
move.} ¢ai),a5 
add.1 a6,a5 

Jee BV_NTBAS (aa), at 
move.1 ¢al),a¢ 
add.1 36,04 


check for proper type 


a@ pointing to tyne 


arch (aay ,a4 
natch 


nope 


ten move. aS, 
ddewe 26 
cmp. 1 aS,at 
ble.s nope 
move.b (alre,d2 


rY 


ai now points to ASCIT string 


moveq #-2,03 
moveg #10_SSTRG, do 
trap 43 


‘channel not found’ 


channel #1 


JBBTE HEHEHE HE 


Print "Variables: *sLF 


14Bt 12 SUperBASIC arrays JHHMEMHHHHEEHEHHHEHHEHHHEE 


print “Arrays: *+LF 


print “*PROCedurem:*+LF 


HEE BOH HEE 


print “FuNctions 


our 


done 


B@2evariadle 

@3marrays 

@4=SuperBASIC procedure 
BSsSuperBaSIC function 


end cf name table 


absolute address 
start of list table 


absolute address 
start of name table 


absolute addr. 


enter: 44 containing high byte of type ID 


check type 


Found Proper type JHHEHEHOHOTHHHHEEHEHTHHEAHHHEABHEBBH 
enter with ag.1 = channel ID trom parameter information 


calculate addr, 
vee ligt table 
4# local variables 
ses prevent overlap 
length of variable name 


in 


of variable name 


timeout, 


send string 


Print line # i¢ Procedure or Function iHHHHHHEHHHHeEHE 


4(a4) will point to next word in name table which will bi 
the line number where the DEFine took place 


emp.b 04,04 
Dit.= newline 
least 1ine_mes: 
move. W UT_MTEXT» 
ser (az) 

move.w 46a4),42 
move.W UT_MINT, a2 


print ‘Line # * 
get line number 
print line numb 


ser (az 
newline = maveq WLINEFEED, di wend Lineteed 
moveg #-1,d3 timeout, 
moveq W10_SBYTE,d@ 
trap #3 
4 
' update pointers and continue search 
' 
nope dd 40,04 next item in table 


emp.1 04,d5 reached end of table 
1€ not continue 


end reached 


Message tables JGHEETHEHHHEHHHHHEHEABHHHHHHHHBHEEHE 
Important: the apacing between quotes is crucial! 


cow 12 

dc. LINEFEED 
de.b 'Variabl. 
dc.b LINEFEED 


no spac 


array.mess dc.w 1 
dc.b LINEFEED 
dc.b *Arrays: * 
dc.b LINEFEED 


1 apace after colon 


deww 14 

éc.b LINEFEED 

dc.b "PROCedures: * 
dc.b LINEFEED 


4 space after colon 


func_meme dc.w 12 

dc.b LINEFEED 

dc.b *FuNct toni 

de.b LINEFEED 
5 
line_mess Gc.w 9 

dc.b * Line w * insure word boundary 
1 2 spaces before Line 
4 1 space after # 
4 
Parsep = da.w i program variable 
LE971N0 3 -- Boot program to snstat! vduep PROCedure 


199 REMark #### boot to load vdump Procedure 

118 REMark ##0e this procedure is called with channel 
120° REMark #484 1.0. <vdump 42> 

125 REMark #He CTL FS will fre 
13 a#RESPR (332): 
ry CALL a 


@ screen during dump 
LBYTES mdvi_vardump_proc,s 


TABLE L -- vdump of Listing £ 


Variables: 
a 
> 


number 
devices 
newdevices 
sount 
check_sum 
as 

© 


Array! 
dunny 


PROCedures: 

checking Line # 468 
device Line # 398 
into_machine Line W 1208 
to_medium Line # 638 
test Line # 390 


FuNetions: 
ready Line # 720 


Teste" 
An Acivanced Gl Wordprocessor 


PART ONE 
by Mike de Sosa 


As I indicated in the Time Designs Tests 
section of the iast issue, Softwares7's 
Text®7 wordprocessor for the QL is billed as 
a full-featured, WYSIWYG wordprocessor 
designed for easy use by amateurs, but ranks 
in user-friendliness somewhere between QL 
QUILL and The Editor. And, as the 60-pages 
docunentation for this excellent software is 


not always clear or complete and as it is 
not really fully WYSIWYG, some additional 
instructions for use are considered 


necessary. (Later versions of Text®” are 
supposed to contain a tutorial for its use, 
but these are not yet available), The 
following pertains to version 1.6 of Text®”, 
Using Texte” 
The Text®¥ User Manual is not 


comprehensive and indicates that the user 
"should discover the working of Text®7 on 


his/her particular hardware by trial and use 
.. for any particular task.” Texte7 
embodies the latest trends in wordprocessor 
design which make use of greater RAM and on~ 
line memory and incorporates the following 


features: 

* Control of page layout and text 
dimensions in absolute units (millimeters or 
inches) 


%* The ability to mix characters with 
different sizes and typefaces on each line 


* Full use of printer features for 
variable line~spacing, columnization, micro~ 
justification, ete., using dedicated printer 
driver files 

* The entire document is held in RAM 


* Greatly accelerated operations 


We want you to know that we are STILL stocking 
and supporting the QL in everyway we can! If 
you want a NEW or USED QL; s/w or h/w to add 
to your system or just need some advice - RNG 
will do all we can to help you. There are a 

LOT of NEW and EXCITING products coming out 

every month to add to your computing pleasure 
on your QL. Read about them in GL WORLD USER 
and TIME DESIGNS - THEN CALL RHG FOR PRICE AND 
AVAILABILITY. If we don’t know - wet) find 

out! JUST CHECK OUT THESE SPECIAL 


RMG ENTERPRISES 
1419 1/2 7TH STREET 
OREGON CITY, OREGON 97045 
503/655-7484 * NOON-10 TUE-SAT 


IS TNE QL 
BX TINCT? 


UXe dont tains sof 


HERE ARE A COUPLE OF SPECIALS 


seme: 


a PACKAGE COMPLETE-30 DAY WARRANTEE $149 


QL_PACKAGE-USED 15 DAY WARRANTEE $110 PP# 
MIRACLE CENT. PRINTER I/F 48 PPE 
EW TRIVIA QLUE GAME REG. $19.95-- 

FLACKBACK REG. $39.95 

SPEEDSCREEN REG. $39,.95-- 

1 ONLY! SUPER TOOLKIT IJ EPROM CART 

1 ONLY! QFLASH EPROM CART- 

1 ONLY! CONCEPT 30-- 

2 ONLY! GRAM (USED)- 


messrees pert 


¥POSTPAID CONTINENTAL US ONLY-CALL IF OUTSIDE 
Many more great buys! Get our catalog and see! 


In order to use Text®7's advances to 
full effect, one must become familiar with 
several new concepts underlying its design 
and change some old wordprocessing habits. 


Making a Working Copy 


Text*7 will not run from the master disk 
or cartridge; one of a number of printer- 
driver files must be copied to a program 
disk as driver P67, one of three essential 
files (the others text67 and defaultl1_Fo7, 
the program itself and a default fount file, 
respectively) 

Text®” is not copy protected. Use any 
“copy” command available to transfer files. 
Other _P67 suffixed files need not be 
copied. (See Section VII of the manual 
for printer driver data.) _F87 files are 
screen display founts: copy needed one to 
the working copy program dick or a eecond 
Microdrive cartridge. _T87 files are source 
files used to modify various printer 
drivers; the use of an assembler is 
required. Founts_A87 is a list of founts 
available and should be copied to the 
program disk/cartridge. Recon_bas and 
Key_bas ara SuperBASIC files 
configure Text®7; the former to specify 
program and file media to be used, the 
latter to alter the keyboard layout (from 
QWERTY to AZERTY, etc., as desired, similar 
to QL Quill’s translate options), 


Text®” Operations 
Text®7 is an EXECutable 


is, it may be executed by the 
(or EX with Toolkit 2): 


program, that 
command EXEC 


BXYEC (or EX) flpl_text87 


(A suggested--and modifiable—BOOT file is 
included in the User Manual to optimize the 
screen presentation.) 


if the minimum memory required (56K) is 
available, the text window will appear with 
the cursor flashing in the lower left corner 
of the screen--hold the CTRL key down while 
pressing the GC key to activate Text®7 and 


mave the cursor to the top left of the text 
window. Important immediate commands are as 
follows: key F4 to "redraw" the text window 


whenever desired; key F3 to produce the MAIN 
MENU below the text window; key ESC to 
return to the text window, 

Cursor movement and deletion commands 
are well documented: the cursor may be moved 
in the normal and a number of accelerated 
ways to various parts of the document; 
deletion of letters, words, parts of lines, 


and entire lines may easily be made Gnost 
delete commands do not reformat an amended 
paragraph). 

SHIFT F4 inserts a new fount at the 
cursor position and IFT F5 INSERTS a new 
"line guide” on the following line. ENTER 
functions as a carriage return, CTRL SHIFT 


F4 as a page number command, and three types 
of "break the line’ command are available. 
Other marker synbole are also used. ESC 
aborts the current level of a menu-driven 
command. 


38 


. to the text window. 


The Nenu-driven System 


Text®7 is menvu-intensive: keying F3 
produces the MAIN MENU, only one of many 
menus and sub-menus. ESC returns operations 

Keying the first letter 
of each menu item (or ENTER for the first 
item in a menu? then produces either a 
prompt or a sub-menu, used in the came way. 
In the version tested, some menu items were 
present but not yet implemented. When a 
prompt requests a number, the range of 
suitable numbers is displayed; “intelligent” 
replies or parts of replies are usually 
given to prompts. ESC returns operation to 
the previous level. 

At start-up, the following data is 
displayed below the text window: 

Text: Words: Line: Frame: 
Keying 3 produces the following MAIN MENU, 
the entry point to the Extended Command 
system: 


Alpba* Block Context Doct Files Goto 


Keying the first letter of each option 
executes the command sequence producing an 
action, a prompt, or a sub-menu. 


Once executed, Text®” mkes no further 
demands for extra memory fromthe QL, but 
every time a file is loaded or saved, or a 
printout made, the program attempts to open 
a channel through the QL to perform the 
operation. Text®7 may be used to good 
effect with TOOLKIT II, and suggestions for 
this are given in the User Manval. 

The user may select which screen display 
fount (three colors, plain or underlined) 
represents a “printype.” A printype isa 
unique combination of a printer typeface and 
one of the forms in which may be printed on 
your printer. Each printer driver included 
provides a large selection of printypes, 
each of which may be selected and uniquely 
represented on the screen. 

Text on each line is formatted according 
to a defined "ruler” which governs margins, 
tabs, indentations, justification and scale. 
Up to sixteen rulers may be defined and 
later selected fron. 

The basic implication of using Text®7 is 
the potentiality of using a single program 
as word processor and no-nonsense desktop 
publisher. This is the strength of Text*” 
and makes it worth the expense of purchase 
and learning a new system. 


Text®? Extended Command Hierarchy 


The table on the next page illustrates 
the extended command hierarchy. Space 
precludes a thorough definition of command 
functions and recommended procedures in one 
article, so this will be continued in the 
next issue of Time Designs. 

If you don’t want to wait, you may order 


Text*7 directly from Software67, 33 
Savernake Road, London NWS 2JU, United 
Kingdon, Airmail price is $75, payable by 


traveler's check, international GIRO postal 
money order, or other check directly payable 
at a U.K, bank; add about $8,50 for checks 
not so payable. Founted®7 is a companion 
font editor available at $15. 


| 


Text=7 Extended Command Hierarchy 


1. Alphat - selecte normal/additional character set 

2, Block - highlights part of text for various operations 

a, Copy - copies block to cursor position 

b, Delete - deletes block 

©. Goto - moves cursor to first line of block 

a. Kove - moves block to cursor position 

®. Ruler - changes the ‘ruler" format of the block to 
one selected by the Ruler option of MAIN KENU 
‘@ ruler designates the margins, indentation, 
and tabs used for a cecticn of text) 

f. Type - changes the “printype" of the block to one 
selected by the Type option of MAIN MEXU 
(a printypa is a combination of type size and 
font design? 

8 Unset ~ deactivates and removes highlight from block 

3. Context - sets all parameters that are not part of a 

given docunent’s format 
a. Attach: 


DD Select - celects font and color to represent a 
printype (typefaces and options 
supported by the printer driver) 


2) View - displays available printypes and the 
fonts and colors which represent them 
>. Driver: 
1) Load - loads another printer driver file 
2) Save - saves current printer driver file to re- 
tain info entered using Attach option 
©, Founts - loads extra founts 


D Kultiple - loads all founts Msted in the 
fountse_A8? file 


2) Bingle - loads a single specified fount 


4, Paras - modifies certain paregraph parametore 


) indent - toggles "auto indent mode” on or off 
(ENTER moves cursor to first TAB 
position on next line of text) 


2) Decimal TAB Character - allows dofinition of 
decimal point character on which 
numbers will be aligned at the 


decimal TAB position 


length Unit - selects unit of length used for 
margins, tabs, page layout, etc. 
as millimeters or 1/6" or 1/10" 


a 


© Nemary Size - este amount of memory to be 
allocated to Text®” at start-up 


5) Storage & Printing ~ sets certain parameters 


for storing and using text and 
founte for printing operations 
e. Load - loads a _C87 (screen and page) parameter file 


ft, Save - saves current parameters to a _C87; if file 
18 named configure_C87, it loads automatically 


& Window - adjusts size and location of text window 
bh. View: 


1) Compress - toggles screen representation of line- 
spacing on and off 


39 


More and more QL owners are discoverir 
Mike de Sosa — TAKING THE QU: 
The Sinciair 


This 280 page book is chock full of useful programs and original 
; Programming examples. Chapters on using the bundled software and a 


Novice and more advanced users. Priced less than most software 


2) Inverse - toggles screen paper to black or white 


3) Scale - Selects scale of pixel vs. page length 


4. Doc ~ selects section of text to be edited; not yet 
implemented 
8. Files - selects all text file operations, that 1s, 
Save, Load, Export, Import (QL Quill _doo 
files may be loaded) 
©. Goto - accelerates cursor novenent to top, bottom, or 
Specified line of text 
7, Layout - sets layout of columns, header, and footer on 


page and page size 


THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE 
RESOURCE FOR THE SINCLAIR 
QL. GET YOUR COPY TODAY!! 


the excellent new book by 
BE LEAP: tne Last Word On 


at the latest hardware and software releases. Written for both the 


Packages and nearty two pounds of information! 
$26 (USA). 


Exclusively available trom: 
TIME DESIGNS 


29772 Hult Road, Colton, Oregon,.97017, USA. Telephone (503) 
VISA and MASTERCARD accepted. 


Software for the QT, that really works 


MAILBAG 


An address database you 
won’t believe. Labels, 
Rotary files, Zip sort, 
tickler file, many auto 
features, & more...256K 


TAX-I-QL Spreadsheet for IRS tax 
returms............384K 
QLABDLORD Manage 99 buildings or 


units. Dao Sched E. .256K 


$19.95 ea pp on 5 1/4" DSQD 
(+$2.00 on microcartridge) 


AND The most comprehensive list 
of independent North American 


software for the QL. 


Agents for ZX/TS Siriusware 
4K Wordprocessor with 
TS 2040 lower case printer driver 


Orders, 


Catalogues & Dealer info 


EBMmsort 
P.O. Bax 8763, Bastan, 
(617) 889-0830 
VISA/NC ok 


MA 02114 


FULL COLOR SCREEN OUMPS for the 
2068!! A new ver. of "COLOR COPY” 
for OKIMATE 20 printer, IBM Plug ‘n 
Print cart.. & AERCO/OLIGER par, 
erinter I/F is avail. for $8.95 ped 
Write to: John McMichael, 1710 
Palmer Or., Laramie, WY 82070, or 
call (307) 742-4530 evenings. 


WANTED: VU-FILE in T.C.C. Cartridoe 
(Timex) format for the TS2068, Wil) 
Pay reasonable amount plus postage. 
verry Campbell, 8717 NE 138th, 
Kickland, WA 98034. 


MAILING LIST FOR SALE: TIMEX AND 
SINCLAIR users who attended "88 
Northwest Computer Show. Complete 
for only $5.00 ped. Rod Gowen, 1419 
uae Street, Oregon City, Oregon 


SPECIAL LIMITED TIME OFFER: 

With proof of RENEWAL/NEW SUB. to 
TIME DESIGNS, get SEVEN issues of 
SINCUS NEWS (T/S User Group News- 
letter) for only $8. Thats en extra 
issue free! Offer expires 12/31/88, 
SINCUS NEWS, 1229 Rhodes Rd., 
Johnson City, NY 13790, 


FOR SALE: TS2068 W/RGB OUTPUT, 

A&J Miccodrive, Microwafers, 
Alphacom 32 printer, software and 
books. Call or send for prices and 
Vist: Steve kershaw, 547 S$. Church, 
Virden, IL 62690; (217) 965-3537. 


FOR SALE OR TRADE: ELECTRONIC TEST 
EQUIPHENT-~electronic books. Send 
SASE for list. WANTED: LARKEN or 
OLIGER disk system for TS2068. W.E. 
Powden Sr., RR#1 Box 364, 
Bridgeport, IL 62417, 


TAPES FOR TS$1000+16K or TS1500. 
Automatically generate tables of 
monthly posted daily compounded 
interest tables, of fixed rate 
mortgases, of adjustable rate 
mortgages, and of annutties. 
Available for just $10 (U,S) each 
from: Edwin N. Phillies, 540 
Marilea Court, Orange City, FL 
32763. 


SHOW THOSE ROAD HOGS ON THE 
INTERSTATE how you feel!! 

"STILL ALIVE WITH UNCLE CLIVE*, 
viny? bumper sticker, $2.00 + legal 
size SASE. T. Simon, 615 Schoo) 
Ave., Cuyahoge Falls, OH 44221, 


Classiticd 


GOT 2068 COLOR INTERFERENCE on 
your MONOCHROME MONITOR?? 

Get a “Color Killer Kit" for $24. 
OR send BARE 2068 to same address 
for modification - $45, Make 
payable to: Randy Kopisch, 1315 
Choctaw, Alva, OK 73717, 


USER GROUP NEWSLETTER: O2X, 

about the amateur radio uses of 
Sinclair computers. $15 per year, 
Sample issue for SASE (with $.45 
postage) to: KSXY, 2025 O'Donnell, 
Las Cruces, NM 88001. 


FOR SALE: (2) 2068's; ZEBRA 3-PART 
Disk Drive System, disks, mag on 
cassette from Eng., programs, 
modem, books. SASE for complete 
list & prices, R. Zuch, 120 Holly 
Rd., Pine Knoll Shores, NC 28557. 


FOR SALE; WESTRIDGE MODEM $30.00, 
or will swap for AERCO Centronics 
Interface for TS2068. Contact D.H. 
Berry, 1328 Springlite Way, 
Orlando, FL 32817. 


FOR SALE: 288 COMPUTER 

in original package with vinyl 
carry case and 32K ROM pack - $375, 
Edward Snow, 2136 Churchill Downs 
Circle, Orlando, FL 32825; phone 
(407) 380-5124. 


WANTED! USED OS-64 CARTRIDGE 
and used SPECTRUM EMULATOR Cart. 
Phone (503) 669-0639, Gaylen W. 
Bench, Gresham, Oregon. 


WANTED: PHILADELPHIA, PA - AREA 
users of T/S computers, to form our 
own users group either as an in- 
dependent SIG or a sub-SIG of 
Phila. Area Computer Society. 
Contact Mike Finn, 4537 Almond St., 
Philadelphia, PA 19137, 


FOR SALE: TS1000-TS2068-QL-SPECTRUM 
hardware and software. For list 
send S.A.S.E, to: R.J. Burt, RR#S 
Box 157, Belleville, Ontario, 
Canada, KBN-425. 


FOR SALE: (2) Qls, numerous books, 
hardware, software. For list & 
prices contact: R.W. Swafford, 2011 
Hoover St., Lawton, OK 73507: or 
call (405) 357-0589 after 4 PM CST. 


FOR SALE: SINCLAIR OL...needs some 
help. Centronics Printer Interface, 
two manuals, two power supplies, 
software including OL Entrepeneur. 
All for $90 including shipping. 
Ted Sobel, 219 White Church Road, 
Srooktondale, NY 14817; (607) 
539-7920, 


FOR SALE: (2) 2068's; OLIGER DISK 
Drive (0040) complete; A&J Micro- 
drive, complete-all like new. 
Books, original programs, micro— 
cassettes. (205) 859-2944, 
Huntsville, AL; Lionel Barthelemy, 


WANTED: NEW OR USED WAFERS FOR A&J 
Microdrive for TS1000. 

C.L. Hamilton, 4004-27A St., 
Vernon, 8.C., Canada, VIT-422; 
Phone (606) 542-1095. 


SINCLAIR SHAREWARE DISK FILE 
EXCHANGE. For info and sample 
newsletter, send $1.00 (Check to 
“Sinclink", stamps or cash), 
SINCLINK, 6675 Clifford Or., 
Cupertino, CA 95014, 


WANTED: “EXPANDABLE 2X80 + 2X81 
by J. Jarrett, ZWEST back issues, 
Big Ears Speech Recognition System 
by Sinclair Place. Write to: Van 
Vangor, 3466C Retreat Rd., Island 
Falis, ME 04747. 


HAROBACK SOFTWARE: 17 TITLESII 
Fighter Pilot, Word Processor, 
Fitont cart., modem program, misc. 
2068 cassettes, original material. 
All 50% below retail. Free 
Shipping: phone (512) 839-4516. 


FOR SALE: (2) QL's (new), TS2068 
hardware and software (new), Legal 
size SASE for list, WANTED: Timex 
Oisk Drive System "twister", 2068 
business software on 3° disk. Stan 
Lignt, PO Box 13, Ellenton, FL 
34222; phone (813) 746-0478, 


Do you have some equipment or a program thal you would like to sell? Looking for something hard to find? Place an 
ad in THE CLASSIFIEDS! Subscribers can place one free personal ad in each issue. Ad size is 32 Col. wide (like 2040 
paper) and maximum of six lines. For additional lines - $3 each. NON-SUBSCRIBERS and DEALERS: $4 a line, 


DEADLINE FOR ALL CLASSIFIED ADS: Two weeks before publication date. Mail your ad to: 
TIME DESIGNS MAGAZINE, The Classifieds Dept., 29722 Hult Rd., Colton, Oregon 97017. 


40 


Gorilla Bananna, Legend 808. 


amples From 
Picture Collection #1 


eae Lee 
REocEs 


MARL AS 
AD BERD 


Sports 


Eyl y be 
2tab dim 


Party 


Shaeag 
K* Oe 


Office 


Zebra Systems, Inc. 
78-06 Jamaica Ave. 


Woodhaven, NY 11421 


Graphies Designe 

Banner Designe 

Greeting Card Designer 
Sign Designer 
All 8 programs for just $29.95 

Zebra's 2068 Graphics Designer Series includes three 
programs that let you create Greeting Cards, Signs, 
and Banners. Each program allows you to mix text and 
pictures in your creations. Plus, all programs include 
picture libraries as well as graphics editors so that you 


can create your own pictures to add to the picture {i- 
braries. Great for birthdays, holidays and business too! 


Interfaces supported: AERCO, Tasman B&O, A&J. Printers sup- 
ported: Epson RX/FX and compatibles, Star 10X/SG10/NX10, 
Memotech OMX80, Panasonic 1090, Prowriter, Seikosha GP250, 
Order Cat# GSO3 $29.95 


Signs, 


3 


shown below. 


AO di RBG) 
wa is 


Animals 


ayy 


RywerGh 


Travel 


Banners, and 
Greeting Cards 
made with the 
2068 Graphics 
Designers 
New Fantastic Picture 
for use with Zebra's Graphics Designer Series 
and Lemke's Pixel Print 


These pictures were created for us by very talented graphics artists 
Each of tha three collections consists of 120 pictures supplied as 4 tapes 
containing 30 pictures each, Some samples from each collection are 


collection 


Picture Collection #1 4 tapes, 30 pictures per tape, 
Sports, America, Party, Office 

Picture Collection #2 4 tapes, 30 pictures per tape. 
Animals, Nature, Religion, Travel 

Picture Collection #3 4 tapes, 30 pictures per tape. 

Holiday Collection including Christmas, Chanukah, Thanksgiving, 

New Year's, Easter, Halloween, etc. 


Samples From 
Picture Collection #2 


#6311 $19.95 
#GS12 $19.95 


Order #GS13 $19.95 


amples From 
Picture Collection #3 


WITT 
GORSHA 


32904¢ 
¥ ied 


Easter & Thanksgiving 


Bx JBRWe 


Jewlsh Holidays 


Leeds fl 
RK ORs 
EaeG es 


New Years, July 41h, Halloween, 
Parades, S1.Paty's & Valentines 


Ordering Instructions: All orders add 


$3.00 Shipping and Handling. UPS COD 


add $3.00. VISA/MC Accepted. NY resi- 


(718) 296-2385 


dents add sales tax. 


the Pixel Print ICOM a1 
packages, FONTs wi, nz 
as well 
and your Pixel Frint fi 


Pixel Print PLUS! 


THE OESskTOPr PUBLISHER 


What's the PLUS? 
PERFORMANCE! 


HAS 
Checkout these SPECS: 


WYSIWYG (Hhat You See ,% 
Is What You Get!) #2 
Create your text on the “& 
screen... as aes as typing! 
LOAD graphics... Load ICONS... 
Import TASHWORD toxt via the 
TASWORD conversion utility. 


AUTOMATIC and MANUAL line and 
character adjustments. 


RESTORE FONT (safter using the 
BOLD/NODERN/ITALIC modifiers. 


KEEP/UNDO/SAVE/LOAD/LOAD ICON 
LOAD SCEEENS/SAUE SCREEHS 
WIDE/HIGH/CLS/SCROLL SPEED 
QUER/INUERSE/CaAPS LOCK 

UP TO 16 POINT FONTS 

(font Package in development) 
COPY/ERASE/ INSERT/DELETE“NEW 
AERCO/TASNAN AsBB/aaI CPI 


IBM/EFSON/PROWRITER tyre 
Printers. 


Pixel Print PLUS! has all of 
the features found in v2.8 
wi 


is 100% 


& 
& 
és the Tashord ‘uc 
e 


Pixel Prant Professional 
, RERCO O15K VERS | ON! 


ixel Print Plus vie 

* Create up to 2@ page 
documents 

* Print @ complete Doc 

headers lefts @ right 


nm Letter Format 

ers must be capable 

36 Dots per inch 
e0 dots per lined 

Bit tmage Grapnics::s 


* Automaced Printer Customizing 
* SSO diskette cor auTo-sAVE TAPED 
* anil 


u $2995 sed. cORDER now! 


QLIGER DISK VERSION! 


* Same as the AERCO 
version above except 
for use with the 

Qliger Disk tnterface 

(S300 Bishi ERS 

* Pesguires a minimum of 32k 
PAM expansion... (see the 
jek RAM Cartridge below!)> 


* onty $2933 ped, coRDER mow! 
Se eee 


LARKEN DiS VERSION! 


* Game as the AERCO 
version above except 
for use with the 

LARKEN Disk tnterface 

(S500 Disk) 

* Requires a minimum of BYK 

RAM OSK memory expansions 


* onty $293° pea. cCORDER NOW!» 


Faxed Frant 
Frofessional 


Ooms eS ona 


INEL PRINT PLUS... $1925 
ASUORD TEXT CONY.... $1925 
COW PACKAGE fl...... $1925 
CON LIBRARY $2.0.,., $1428 
QNT PACKAGE Htiss... $1925 
ONT LOBRARY W2...... $1425 
ONT LIBRARY &3,...., $1922 
984 PERSONAL CALENDAR $1922 
QSTHEAD PACKAGE 82,, $1425 
6 POINT FOWTS....4.. $1482 
EGA FONTS. .esivecess $1422 
IREL SKETCH v3.0.0... $192 
HECKBOOK ABPER...., $1985 


Eor CASSETTE 
& MtERODRIVE 


* Same as Aercao 
except for use 


REGuH+ 
With Tapes... 


NOTES Seecify either TAPE 
or MACROGRIVE... 


# Requires a minimum of 32K 
RAM e-pansion... Csee the 
3eK RAM Cartridge below!> 


* onty $2985 oeg,. coRDER mow! 


ick RAM CARTRIDGE 


4 deh Volatile Memory 


# Fits into the TS=2068 
Cartridge Dock 


BO with the purchase 
anty Syyee af the OTP above, 


€S47.95 if purchased separatly?>